Coffee Stains
by oony
Summary: As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's new target is dangerous to the Death Eaters' motives. The only thing he knows is age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. But that's not going to help him at an all werewolf school. AU. Mild slash.
1. Chapter 1

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

The office was decorated in a way that spoke of great wealth. The carpet was fine and soft, clean and imported. The walls were made of solid wood. There was no doubt that the walls alone cost more than most houses did, and that they were made from trees that were exotic to England.

The fourth wall wasn't wood at all, but rather a long plane of glass. Beyond which lay a sprawling ocean view that gave the property an expensive value.

_Bullet and Avada Kedavra proof, I'd bet. What with how many people would like to see this guy dead. _Sirius thought as he reclined in the chair that was so well cushioned that one might call it too comfortable. He swung his leather booted feet on top of the polished surface of the desk.

He ground the heel of his boot against the desk, watching lazily as the dirt crumbled from the soles and scattered across the desk top. He smirked silently to himself when he thought of how much the supplies must cost to _clean _the dark wood, let alone the desk itself. More dirt fell and Sirius glanced over the tips of his boots to the man that sat across from him.

Sirius smiled slightly, just a quirk of the lips, and folded his hands behind his head. The broad shouldered man in the expensively tailored suit and horrible, mustard colored tie glared across at him with thin lips.

"You said you had a job for me?" Sirius asked haughtily, using the tip of his boot to tap the first ball in the pendulum on the desk.

Sterling eyes watched with bored satisfaction as a chain reaction rippled through the row of little silver balls and caused the one on the end to swing out.

_Figures, all the rich bastards have at least _one _of these things. What the hell are they for, anyway?_

"I do," the man in the suit said with a clipped tone.

He leaned across the desk and pulled the swinging pendulum away from Sirius while shooting a look of disdain at the boots propped up on his desk.

"Well? I don't have all day."

"I was just getting to the details."

"I think you'd better get to the money before you get to anything."

"It's right here." He pulled an envelope out of an interior pocket of his suit. It was unmarked and thick with money. The notes it held were fresh, mint, and had never been circulated before. Sirius could tell by the smell. The man flicked the envelope open and fingered a handful of the paper currency.

"I said that I wanted gold, not that shit."

"This shit can be easily exchanged. Either take it or leave it."

"Then hand it over."

"Impatient, aren't we?" He asked with a sneer and tucked the envelope away.

"Quarry, I'm not fucking with you-"

"Nor I with you, Mr. Black. You will get your due pay when this little assignment is all taken care of."

"Then I'm showing myself to the door and you can find someone else to do your dirty work. You'll pay me now or we do not have a deal," Sirius growled, still reclined in his chair. "You wont find anyone as good as I am."

"No, but I can certainly find someone half this expensive." Quarry pursed his lips and pulled out the envelope harshly. He threw it on the desk where it skidded across the surface and collided to a stop when it met with Sirius' boots.

Sirius took his feet down slowly and picked the envelope up. His suspicious eyes never left Quarry's face. He opened it and quickly counted through the money inside of it. The smell of it over powered his nose as he counted it twice just to make sure. He sealed it tight after everything seemed to be in good order.

"Alright, now you wanted to say something about details?" He asked, slipping it in his back pocket and putting his feet on top of the desk again.

Quarry's beady black eyes narrowed.

"Yes, details."

"What is it that you need, exactly?"

"I need a hit man-"

"That's probably why you called me," Sirius said dryly.

"I need _someone _that can take care of something for me."

Sirius sighed. "Who is it that you want me to kill, Quarry?"

"I don't know the name, exactly-"

Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow.

"But my sources tell me that he's an eighteen-year-old male."

The black leather boots landed on the floor with what would have been a thud had the thick, awaiting carpet not swallowed it whole.

"A kid? Quarry, you want me to kill a _kid_? To what point?"

"To the point where he is a danger to myself and my organization."

"How can some kid who's most likely still battling acne be a danger?"

"That's not your place to ask. All you need to worry about is finding him and disposing of him without a trace of evidence. Now, can you handle that or do I need to find someone else?"

Sirius sighed and ran a hand over his face. "No. No, you don't need to do that. What else do you know? I mean, that's real helpful and all but there are _a lot _of eighteen-year-old boys in the world."

"I was just getting to that," Quarry said and folded his hands neatly on the smooth desk top. "He's also a werewolf."

Sirius looked up at Quarry slowly, a spark of interest igniting in his eyes. "Go on."

"A werewolf in attendance at Stonegate. It's an educational facility for lyrocanthropes in Ireland. I use the words _educational facility _lightly. Zoo is a better fit," he said with a snort and handed a vanilla file folder across to Sirius.

The black haired man took it and paged through it. Inside were pictures of the supposed school along with a list of students, staff, location, and a little background information about the school and the area in general. Sirius studied the front page carefully and a frown creased his brow.

"This is too easy," he muttered to himself and snapped the folder closed. "What's the catch, Quarry?"

"The catch, my friend, is that I do not know who he is."

"Nothing? You don't know a single damn thing?"

"Nothing more than what I've told you, no."

Sirius leaned back and rotated the folder slowly in his hands. "So, you need me to find this kid and kill him? Is that right?"

"That's exactly what I need you to do. But...If you think it's too much...The door's right behind you. Just be sure to leave the money on the desk."

With a snort, Sirius rose to his feet and took the envelope out of his back pocket.

"No need to worry about that, I'll get it done. Nothing is too much for me," he said, turning to leave with his mind already focused on how to get into Stonegate, the _educational facility _for werewolves.

–

The scenery beyond the window all blended together. Everything looked exactly the same. The murky gray of the river no longer held any individual appeal. Now it looked the same as the sickly color of the vegetation and the polluted hue of the atmosphere. Everything beyond the thin glass of the window was bleak and lifeless.

Remus sighed and tore his eyes away from the sight. He focused instead on the face across from him.

A frown line had permanently creased itself on his father's brow the moment they had gotten into the car and set out on their journey. It looked as if it had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

Remus was surprised at what he saw in his father's face. Lines that had never been there before. Age and worry lines that had no right to be there at all. He wondered when John had found the time to grow an eternity older over night.

John Lupin saw his son watching him closely out of the corner of his eye and looked over at him. Remus' eyes met his. Eyes that looked as if they had fought a battle everyday since he was born.

_Well, it's almost true, isn't it? _John thought bitterly.

His hands tightened around the steering wheel subconsciously. Remus' eyes shifted from John's face to his white knuckled hands. John followed his gaze and forced himself to relax, if not for the benefit of staying on the road, than for Remus'.

"Are you sure that you want to go, Rem? You just say the word and we'll go straight home. You could just stay home, if you want." _With me._

Remus knew the question was coming, it always came without fail every year. Once the night before they had to leave. Again the morning before they finished packing. Right before they got into the car. Sometime while they were in the car. And once before John stopped the car and let his son part from him over the long and lonely months that would come to follow.

Each time he asked, it got harder and harder for Remus to decline the offer.

He opened his mouth and his breath hitched in his throat. Remus shut his mouth and cleared his throat quietly.

"Yeah, Dad, I know."

John waited silently for his son's answer with stilled breath, hoping that for once it had changed.

"I'd love to come home, you know that. But—"

John sighed and turned the wheel deftly so that the little two door car rounded the curve in the road smoothly and easily.

"I know, I know. I mean it's just a couple of months, right?" He asked with a strained smile that Remus could hear in his voice.

"Right, it's my last year, after all," Remus tried weakly to reassure both of them that it really wasn't that long.

"Yeah, only one last year. This is it. That's all there is to remember."

The car drove on in silence with the bleak world passing by outside of its metal confines, and neither of them tired to lie to themselves anymore.

–

Another office, this one not so elaborately decorated, was where Sirius sat in a chair that would never be described as 'too comfortable' let alone ever 'comfortable.'

_There's no pendulum on this desk, _Sirius thought as a different man on the other side of the desk looked through his personal file and résumé.

"Well, uh, Mr.—" The squat man broke off with a cough. "You seem to be just the type of man we're looking for—"

"Black."

The man in the thick rimmed glasses blinked twice, startled.

"Excuse me?"

"Black, the name's Black. Seeing how you'd forgotten, I thought I'd supply," Sirius said in a tone that spoke in volumes of how much he disapproved that the man that had forgotten his name had just been looking though his personal records.

Records that had his name printed at the top corner of every sheet. The least he could do was get the damn name right. The tips of the man's ears turned a bright pink color.

"Right, Mr. Black. As I was saying, I think you'd be well suited for the job. You're just what we've been looking for. Someone with the physical ability to keep these...kids...In their place. I'm surprised that you _want _the job. We don't have many people that would ever want such a job in an institution like this."

Sirius grinned and shrugged.

"What can I say? I've always liked a challenge."

"Well, then I feel safe to say that you'll be an excellent teacher here at Stonegate Academy."

_Academy? _Sirius thought as he leaned across the table with some fake smile or another to shake his new employer's hand. _What's the point of dressing it up? Everyone knows what this place really is._

"Great, Mr. Black. All very good. Now, I'll show you to your quarters and also where your classes will be," the headmaster of Stonegate said, gaining his feet.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather show myself," Sirius countered, also rising to his feet.

His employer looked up at him, startled. He straightened his shirt and cleared his throat.

"Right, you can find your quarters on the lowest level along with the other teachers'. I'll give you a little hint. Your room will be the only empty one," the headmaster said with a strained smile. He was not used to being turned down.

"I don't think I'll have a problem finding things for myself," Sirius called over his shoulder before he let himself out of the office that was so unlike Quarry's million dollar, ocean view location.

"It's going to be a long ten months. Completely isolated from the intelligent world," Sirius muttered to himself as he set off down the long corridor in search of the dorm room where the eighteen-year-old werewolves would be staying.

–

The knock on the door was short and sharp. It was as if the owner of the hesitant hand wished they could take the action back and be anywhere other than in front of the headmaster's door at Stonegate Academy.

Wilton sighed from his place by the window that over looked the grounds and the wild tangle of cruel forest beyond. He glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was only half past ten. The headmaster shook his head. Not even four hours into the first day of the September semester and someone was already in trouble.

_What else do you expect from this lot? _Wilton thought wearily as he put on a stone cold mask of unforgiving ice and opened the door.

His well prepared mask shattered the moment he opened the door. Standing on the other side of the door was Remus Lupin. Remus Lupin, one of the select few that showed interest in his studies and had yet to have a black mark against his name. Remus Lupin who was supporting a rather impressive split lip and an erupting bruise that was forming on his right cheek.

"Lupin," Wilton said, gaining his mental footing. "You're...Not who I was expecting."

"I'm sorry, sir. It's just that Mrs. Solon sent Mike and me down," he said quietly, hand cradling the side of his face and right eye shut against the pain in his cheek. "She said to see you one at a time," Remus added, more out of need to break the silence than anything.

"What are you doing down here, Lupin?"

Remus looked up at his headmaster with the confused eyes of someone that had already thoroughly explained the situation.

"I guess...We were fighting."

"Fighting. Fighting is a serious offense."

"I know that, sir," Remus recovered quickly, eyes flashing nervously. "I can explain, I swear I didn't do anything—"

Wilton sighed and brushed the rest of his sentence away with a flick of his wrist. Remus' mouth snapped shut and he bit gently at his lip, being careful not to upset the painful slit running down the middle.

"I know it wasn't you, Lupin. It never is," the headmaster rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Why don't you stop at the bathroom and get yourself cleaned up, then head onto class. What do you have next?"

"Pubs," Remus muttered under his breath, eyes darting away from Wilton. "Defense."

Wilton nodded. "Right, head on down there, then. Send Mike in on your way out."

He turned back to the window in a clear indication that he considered the conversation over.

Remus waited a moment, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. He waited patiently to see if Wilton would write him a pass. He sighed when he saw that the headmaster showed no intention of writing him one.

"Yes, sir."

–


	2. Chapter 2

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Although Sirius would never admit it to anyone, he was starting to like his profession as a self defense teacher. It was only his first day, but he was enjoying it much more than he thought he ever would.

The kids he was to teach really did know their stuff and they were proving to be a real challenge, forcing him to put all of his raw strength forward.

That was exactly what he was learning that they were, too.

Kids.

Kids with problems with parents and school and dating. Just the same as he had been at one time.

Not kids with blood down their chins and death on their breath.

What was more, they were warming up to him.

He wasn't a cruel professor and wasn't a push over. They were entirely surprised when he could pin them to the mat.

To the mat in a classroom that wasn't really even a classroom.

It was an over sized recreation room with two mounted basketball hoops and a closet of assorted sports balls in the back.

Sirius didn't mind, not really. He'd personally always done better in the practical lessons anyway.

"Alright, it's called a hook, I'll show you why," Sirius was saying to the group gathered around him with tight and quivering muscles, all ready to go.

He stopped in the middle of the demonstration as one of the twin doors leading into the gym opened and slammed closed. Sirius looked over the heads of his students around him toward the back of the gym. A boy sat next to the door, back against the wall one knee drawn up to his chest and the other out in front of him. His keen eyes watched the crowd with a sense of brooding impatience.

Sirius nudged the boy closest to him. The blond haired teen turned sharply and relaxed visibly when he become aware that he was not being attacked. Sirius nodded toward the boy at the back of the gym. The blond haired boy craned his neck and shook his head, prodded the boy next to him and whispered into his ear.

"Can I help you?" Sirius called, parting the group of students and moving to stand in front of them.

It took a moment for the boy to realize that Sirius was addressing him. He shook his head.

"No, I'm just here for pubs."

"Pubs?" Sirius asked, looking at he boys on either side of him for assistance. "What's pubs?"

They only snickered and shook their heads in response.

"What?"

"Pubs. This class. Self defense. Pointless. Utter. Bullshit. Pubs."

"Pubs," Sirius repeated lazily, starting toward the boy at the back.

"Yeah, that's right," he gained his feet as Sirius neared.

The rest of the class followed behind Sirius, giving cat calls. Sirius stopped about six feet in front of him.

"I say otherwise..."

"Lupin."

"Anything but pubs, Lupin," Sirius said quietly and lunged for the boy, meaning to show him just how useless self defense could be.

His hands met the wall when they were supposed to fist in Lupin's shirt. Sirius turned sharply, back against the wall so that he'd only have to defend one part of himself at a time. His fists balled, expecting an attack of some sort from any direction.

Instead, it wasn't an attack, but Lupin stood calmly behind him. He had his backpack slung across one shoulder.

_Damn, he's fast, _Sirius thought. _He had enough time to grab his stuff, move, and turn while I could only turn around. Damn. He is _fast.

A small smile graced the boy's lips as his eyes drifted down to Sirius' balled fists.

"I've no intention of fighting you, sir," he said a moment before the bell rang. "Right," his eyes flickered from the door and then back to Sirius. "I'll see you tomorrow for our next pubs lesson."

Sirius watched as he left out of the door with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

–

Breakfast, or any meal time for that matter, at Stonegate was a chaotic affair. The mess hall was set up as a large room with a number of round tables scattered around it in no apparent pattern. Each table was bolted to the floor, as were the six chairs that were clustered around them.

A mandatory addition that had been added in 1931 when a girl had been bashed over the head with a chair. Her skull had cracked down the middle and she stumbled blindly and alone, screaming in agony as the blood poured from her split skull. She was reported dead shortly after. Another reason why the all werewolf school now only housed boys. The co education at Stonegate Academy ceased shortly after this final strife in a long bout of gender related offenses.

The Ministry of Magic thought it mandatory that the chairs and tables in the entire building be bolted to the floor due to safety precautions after this particular incident.

The students were not pleased that they couldn't move the chairs at random. It always caused a massive dispute in the first week of term when the bolted chairs kept the self proclaimed packs from sitting with one another during meals. Groups that had more than six people were outraged that they couldn't sit together. A few times in the past a force of Aurors had been called in to subdue them. This was also the reason why only plastic forks and knives were used from then on.

Sirius tilted his own chair back. Well, tried to. He swore under his breath.

The bolted chairs were really something he could do without. He gritted his teeth together in annoyance and flipped open the small, pocket sized notebook in his hand. In it on the first page was a list of sixteen names.

All names of the eighteen-year-old boys in the school that he had obtained from the file room. He was lucky to teach all of them at one point during the day or another. So he'd have close contact with them and be able to narrow the list down in time. He flipped to the next page where he'd compiled anything and everything he knew about any of the suspected.

Like David Craw. Who he saw during the sixth period of the day. Short, blond, curly hair and brown eyes. Or like Remus Lupin.

Sirius scowled as his eyes went down the list to land on Lupin's name. The 'pubs' kid with the freckles on his arms. Long hair that needed a haircut and was brown for lack of a better descriptive word. Annoying as fuck. Fast. Smart and number one teacher's pet from what he'd heard from the other students. The loner. 'No place in any pack' as they said. Took his meals early and left to eat them outside. Snow, rain, or shine.

He frowned and studied the rest of the list. Next to most of the names was only a physical description. Some didn't even have that yet. Only a few odd other notes. Most of which consisted of who a person interacted with and when he had them in class. But nothing personal.

_Why is it that I know so much about him, anyway? _Sirius wondered as he traced patterns in the upper corner of the notebook.

From scratches of conversation at the table next to his, he heard Remus' name mentioned.

_Oh, _he thought as he closed the notebook and put it away.

_That's why._

–

Something was missing.

Something was wrong.

Sirius frowned from his spot in the middle of the red mat. He'd been teaching for a month now. He had a sense for his classroom, for a lack of a better word, and knew when something was out of place.

Now the only problem that remained was _what _was out of place. He stepped off the mat and surveyed the surroundings of the gym.

_Everything still looks the same._

Sirius thought until his eyes landed on the twin doors at the back of the gym.

_Well, almost the same._

The spot next to the door that Remus normally vacated during self defense was void of the brown haired boy.

Sirius turned back toward the group of students that were gathered around the mat where three of them were wrestling animatedly. He opened his mouth to tell them not to go so rough. The way they were going at it was enough to bring blood.

"Does anyone know where Lupin's at?" _Where the hell did that come from?_

A few of the boys toward the back turned and glanced back at the doors. One of them snorted.

"Looks like pubs is skipping again."

"Again? Wait, has this happened before and I never knew about it?"

Two of them exchanged brief looks.

"No, he always skips this class."

Sirius gritted his teeth together. He started for the doors, seemed to think better of his decision, and turned back sharply. His eyes wearily scanned the crowd of twenty-nine werewolves that would be left alone to their own devices.

_Wilton would have my head and I'd be outta here faster than...Lupin can move, _he thought, torn between leaving and staying. _And then Quarry would really have my head._

"I'm just going to step out for a minute, do you all think you can handle staying put till I get back?"

There was a collective murmur of affirmatives and a few sarcastic negative answers thrown into the mix as well.

"Okay, I'm just going—"

He broke off when he realized that he didn't rightly _know _where he was going. "None of you would happen to know where he skips to, would you?"

Most of the students just shook their heads absently and went back to their own conversations. Some didn't even shake their heads and simply continued on with the conversations that they'd never put on hold in the first place. One, however, shrugged his shoulders. Not as if he didn't know nor care, but as if it were common knowledge that everyone knew.

"The east yard."

"Thanks," Sirius said, pausing for one last look over his shoulder at a group of kids that very well might be capable of bashing a fifteen-year-old girl over the head with a chair and killing her. Kids that were capable of getting every single chair bolted to the floor and to never come up again.

_Kids that'll be fine for just a minute, _he thought as he sprinted down the corridor that headed toward the east yard.

_I hope._

He skidded around a corner and kept on running.

–


	3. Chapter 3

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

The east yard was one of the four yards that belonged to Stonegate Academy. It was also the most beautiful, at least in Remus' mind. The trees grew in a wild variety and the wind had long since swept last years decaying, black leaves out of the yard and onto other parts of the world. They were now being steadily replaced with the next generation of fall leaves. Even though all four of the yards were the same size, the east one seemed to fill an eon.

Tall, castle like walls enclosed it with spidery, life chocking ivy climbing up the sides. A faded, brick red path wound through the east yard, connecting the opposing doors on either side of the diagonal path.

The doors leading to the east yard had long since been bolted shut after the murder of the self defense teacher had caused dark blood to run in the water fountain in the center of the courtyard. There were still faded stains ingrained at the bottom of the stone bellied fountain.

Remus sighed, laying on his side with his cheek cupped in his hand and a book open on the grass.

_It's really a shame that they closed this place up_, he thought, eyes lazily leaving the words spread before him like an eager sacrifice to wander around the yard. _But it does give me a good place to go to without my every move being monitored._

His eyes jumped from the fountain to the crumbling, weather worn, stone benches. Then to the tress that the early September month was just starting to work its magic on. He rolled to his back, eyes falling closed and fingers leaving the pages of the paperback. The pages rustled and the book sighed closed, back cover turned up in worship toward the sky. A faint breeze propelled through the air smelling like fall—the dying time.

_It's too nice a day to be stuck inside, and in pubs, no less, _he thought as the sun and the shade crated by the twisted branches of the tall oak tree battled it out for dominance over his face.

The sun won in the end, breaking through the protesting branches of the tree to spread solar light that had traveled many light years to shine upon the Earth.

He laid like that for a long time, basking in the sun that fell upon him, silently composing the next letter to his father while he walked the thin line between conciseness and unconsciousness.

_Maybe I can go see him this weekend if I get permission from the school._

The sun left his face and the cool shade reigned supreme. Remus' muscles tensed. It wasn't the shade of any tree.

He opened his eyes slowly to come face to face with the tall figure that blocked out the sun. Remus sat up straight and scrambled back a few paces.

"There you are."

Remus sighed in relief when he recognized the voice of his Defense professor.

"What are you doing here?" Remus asked as he leaned over to pick up his book and stood up.

"I could ask you the same thing. I was informed that this place was off limits."

Remus just shrugged.

"How'd you get in here?" Remus sighed.

"Probably the same way you did. The vines."

"No," Remus shook his head. "I use the roof and drop down. The vines are too obvious, too slow."

"I really don't give a fuck what they are, you're cutting my class—"

"Sorry, I only attend useful classes. Seeing how pubs has no value to me—"

"Stop calling it that. It's defense," Sirius growled through a clenched jaw.

"Whatever," Remus muttered, flipping through his book until he found the page he'd left off on.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sirius hissed, following close behind as Remus walked to the other side of the courtyard.

Remus didn't look up from his book. "Reading, I've got to do something."

"Yeah, and that something would be getting your ass back to class—"

"Well, technically I wasn't even _in class _in the first place, so how do you expect me to go back to pubs when I wasn't even there to begin with?"

Sirius gritted his teeth together. _Enough is enough. I'm not taking any lip from any kid._

He snatched the book out of Remus' hands. There was a sound of ripping pages and the boy spun around quickly to confront his teacher. He made a grab for the book that Sirius anticipated and quickly reacted to.

Sirius thrust the book harshly into the surprised boy's hands and gripped his forearm in a vice grip. He hauled him toward the vine covered wall. Remus stumbled when Sirius shoved him toward the concrete wall. His outstretched hands dug into the cutting stone.

"If you'd have paid attention in _pubs _you would have known how to get away from me," Sirius snarled. "Now climb."

"I—"

"_Climb_."

Remus backed away from the wall. Sirius pushed him forward again.

"_Now. _That was not a request. That was a command."

The werewolf scaled the wall with careful hand and foot movements. His teacher went up when he reached the top.

"Jump."

"Jump, are you insane? That's a twenty foot drop, at least."

"I said _jump_," Sirius said, jumping from the the top of the wall with his hand firmly on the back of Remus' neck.

Remus landed more awkwardly than the Defense teacher did. He had to run a few paces immediately after landing in order to regain his balance.

"Now _walk,_" Sirius growled, the vice grip returning to Remus' forearm as they walked the perimeter of the east yard wall toward the front of the building.

Heads turned when the doors to the gym opened and Sirius led in a nonresistant Remus by the arm. The members of the class exchanged amused expressions and circled around the teacher and student.

"All still in one piece?" Sirius asked sarcastically, eying each of the werewolves in turn.

They all seemed to be alright, just the usual scratches and bruises that they all seemed to have no matter what, but no blood and no screaming. Sirius sighed in relief and pushed his way through the mass, still guiding Remus. He shoved him toward the mat and then stepped onto it himself. Remus rubbed at his wrist as Sirius spoke to the rest of his classmates.

"Skipping my class will not be tolerated. While you're in here, or should I say in my class, I am completely responsible for you. If one of you gets seriously hurt or goes missing...I'm the one held responsible. If I'm going to get fired, I at least want to make sure it's a valid reason."

Behind him, Remus stiffened and crossed his arms across his chest uncomfortably.

"Now, we still have ten minutes left. May as well do something useful," he sighed and turned to face the teenager with the slightly pink cheeks behind him. "Well, since you're already up here, why not be my demonstration, Remus."

"Do I have a choice?" He whispered as Sirius stood in front of him.

"No," Sirius hissed quietly back. "We'll learn how to get our of a rather tight situation," he loudly addressed the class as a whole once more.

Remus glared, the final stain of embarrassment leaving his face.

"Just stand still for a minute and I'll walk you through." He slid closer to his student and took a firm grip on his wrist, quite successfully recreating the situation they'd been in in the east yard.

"Let go of me," Remus growled, too low for anyone but Sirius to hear him.

"Just shut up and do as I say."

The rest of the class gazed on with looks of amusement as Remus pulled his wrist free and evaded capture by darting from corner to corner around the mat.

"See, sir," Remus said with a smirk in his voice as the end bell rang over the double doors of the gym. He had managed to break free when Sirius had been more focused on explaining to his students rather than Remus. Remus had kept his distance for the remainder of the class. "I told you that I don't need this."

"Oh no you don't," Sirius growled under his breath, more to himself than to anyone else.

He moved in front of Remus, barring him from leaving. Remus stopped in his tracks and locked eyes with his teacher.

"That was the bell, they don't wait forever. I need to go."

"I know it was the damn bell, but you're not going anywhere without this." Sirius slapped a small slip of paper into the boy's hand.

"Now you can go," Sirius said with a sarcastic smile. "Have a nice day, I'll see you at eight."

He turned sharply on his heel and strode away.

"What's this?"

"A detention slip, or can't you read?"

"In three different languages, yes."

"Obviously English isn't one of them."

Remus smiled in a way that spoke as if this mindless, childish, verbal duel was getting annoying rather than in defeat. He folded the small slip in half and stuck it in his pocket.

"We'll call it a date, then."

"No, we'll call it a detention."

"At eight."

"Not a minute later."

"Yes, sir," Remus mumbled to himself as he shifted his backpack to a more comfortable spot on his shoulder and left the gym swiftly.

Sirius sighed and wondered if it was all really worth it.

–


	4. Chapter 4

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Remus knocked once on the door to the room that the slip had instructed him to report to. It was a single knock of warning rather than a request to enter. He opened the door, fingers playing with the blue detention paper. It bent on the well formed crease frontwards and then doubled over backwards.

"Do you mind?" A voice growled in surprise and a half naked figure streaked toward the door, ushering him outside and slamming the door in his face.

Remus stumbled backwards, his feet crisscrossing over one another. Balance regained, he waited patiently on the other side of the door. It was another minute before the swearing stopped and it opened. On the other side was Sirius. An annoyed look dominated his aristocratic features.

"What? You said eight."

"It's ten till."

"You said not to be late."

"Next time wait for me to get the door."

"I didn't know you were getting dressed. Why did you give me the door to your room? Why not your office?"

"Don't have one."

"You don't have an office? I was pretty sure our last defense teacher did."

Sirius shrugged and drew his wand to silently lock his door.

"They needed the extra room for storage or something like that, I guess. I really don't mind either way," he said and started to lead the way to the gym. Remus followed. At first Remus lagged behind, but by the time they were halfway down the corridor they were walking side by side.

"Okay," Sirius sighed as they stood outside the locked doors that opened up into the gym. He pulled a keyring from his pocket and flipped through the few keys that were attached to the metal ring.

"Front door, yard doors, dorm doors, lunch door, oh, right, gym doors. The castle battlements group to defend the fort," he muttered to himself as he jammed the key ridges up into the lock.

With a twist of his hand, the lock clicked and they pulled the reluctant doors open.

"Alright, give me a hand with these mats real quick—" Sirius started as he headed for the equipment room.

He stopped dead in his tracks, not even halfway across the floorspace of the gym. Behind him, Remus stood completely frozen in the doorway.

–

Fights were not uncommon at Stonegate. There were several everyday, it was just another something to learn to live with. Most teachers turned a blind eye to the situation completely and ignored it for fear of being the next designated target. The students joked about it, saying it was just another way to say hello. Yeah, the harder you got hit, the more someone really liked you.

Because fighting occurred so often, so did the occasional death. Although they were not as common ground as fighting, an abnormal amount still took place over the course of the school year. Deaths were not only limited to students, but extended to encompass the teachers as well.

Although both Remus and Sirius knew that death was just another risk factor for attending Stonegate Academy, both of their stomachs turned at the sight of the body tied to the backboard of the basketball hoop at the other end of the gym. Or what was left of it at any rate.

All of the appendages had been removed and all that remained was a bloody torso tied to the backboard. The eyes stared blandly and numbly at nothing. Eyes that would never see anything ever again. Blood stained the backboard an atrocious maroon color and cascaded down it in streams. It dripped off of the end and splattered to the floor, leaving bloody freckles along with the scratches of tennis shoes.

Sirius' head jerked violently to the side. His eyes snapped shut with the image of the ghastly corpse ingrained on the inside of his eye lids. Sent there by God to haunt him forever more. He felt the hot surge as his stomach turned and his dinner tried to push its way up his throat.

He pushed it back down with a grimace at the foul after taste and opened his eyes slowly. His head was still snapped away from the torso tired to the recreation equipment and his silver orbs couldn't help but land on Remus.

The boy was rooted to the spot. Standing perfectly still with his eyes trained on those of the dead.

_God, that's one of his classmates. Someone he knows. _Sirius thought as his feet started to automatically carry him toward the equipment room.

His head was still turned away from the scene. He was surprised that the hand that searched for his key ring again did not shake while it hunted for the equipment room key. When it was located, he wasted no time getting the door open and rushed inside.

Once inside, he turned and looked out of the small window cut into the tan, fake wood of the door at the gym. All that was visible now were the freckles of blood that were scattered on the floor. Remus had disappeared from the doorway that connected the gym and corridor.

Sirius took a deep breath and turned from the window. It felt good to be surrounded by all the musty sports equipment. Almost as if everything beyond the door didn't even exist. He started to hunt through boxes and totes in a search for something, anything that might work for what he had in mind.

That something came four minutes later in the form of a large off white cotton sheet that an odd number of baseball mitts in various conditions had been wrapped in. Sirius waved it out and started for the door, bracing himself for the gruesome sight beyond the safety of the storage room.

Sirius was relived to have found something to wrap the body in. And he wouldn't have to use the shirt on his back.

He went back into the gym and used the ropes dangling from the wall to lower the basketball hoop. The bottom of it dipped and stopped when it was about three feet from the floor. Leaving the corpse and Sirius nearly at eye level.

_I do not remember this being part of the job description, _he thought as he quickly undid the knots of the blood soaked tangle of rope.

The body started to sag away from the backboard, those blank eyes looking down at Sirius' shoes. As he tugged the last restraining knot loose, the corpse fell heavily forward, all dead weight. _Dead weight._

His quick reflexes saved him from being toppled over by the bloody corpse. The off white sheet was draped over his arms and it sagged with the weight of the body. Blood quickly seeped through it and Sirius could feel it wet and slick against his skin. He took the body out the back door and wrapped it tightly in the sheet.

Sirius stepped back from the wrapped corpse. He drew his wand and made sure it would be kept dry and safe from all of the wondering things at night until tomorrow came and they'd be able to put it in the ground in the back of the school yard with the others. The parents rarely minded.

He leaned heavily against the door, taking deep breaths and wiping off the blood on his arms.

In his profession he'd seen a lot of death, but somehow this one struck a cord. The mere brutality of the murder was something that he rarely saw, what with his own preference of the cool and calculated.

He dragged a hand slowly over his face and looked toward the open double doors. Remus was not in the doorway.

_Shit, that's the last thing I need. Wilton would have my ass if he caught that kid wandering around by himself._

Sirius started toward the doors, careful to keep his eyes focused anywhere but the backboard. He leaned out the door and saw Remus sitting beside it. Knees drawn up to his chest and chin resting on top of them. He tried to speak, but his vocal cords failed him, like a child's play toy with red rust in the gears that made it impossible for them to operate. Remus looked up at him with blank eyes.

_Blank eyes of a corpse, _Sirius thought and shook his head to banish the thought.

"C'mon," he managed to get out at last. "There's somewhere else we can go."

Remus followed without question with his eyes lowered. The way that he moved reminded Sirius of a wind up toy. Mechanically. Without reason. Without cause. Without a destination.

"That's one reason," Sirius said as he shut the door to the empty classroom upon entering.

"Excuse me?" Remus asked quietly, head inclined upward slightly.

"That's one of the best reasons why you need to learn how to defend yourself." _So you wont end up like him._

The werewolf sat on top of the desk nearest the door, hands gripping the edges and read over the notes that had been left upon the board from the last lesson of the day.

_Third year Transfiguration._

"I don't plan on getting myself into a situation like that."

"Are you saying that he did?" Sirius snarled and spun around to face him sharply.

Remus' head jerked up. His eyes were completely unreadable, the perfect poker face.

"I never said that. I just said that it wont happen to me."

"Oh, really?" Sirius asked sarcastically, sliding over to Remus so that he stood directly in front of him.

"I bet _this _wasn't going to happen either." He brushed his thumb roughly over the faint scab that still remained from Remus' split lip.

He flinched, but didn't pull away. Remus met Sirius' gray eyes with a challenging stare of his own.

"That was only once."

Sirius turned away and threw his hands up in the air. "Whatever you say. Fine, I don't care. But tonight you're with me and tonight I say that we're going to make up some crucial parts of class that you've been neglecting to do. That alright with you?"

The werewolf didn't answer and when Sirius turned sharply to attempt to intimidate a response out of him, Remus turned his head away. Sirius sighed and moved the desks silently against the far wall of the classroom with a mute, irritated flick of his wand.

"Okay," he muttered, pacing the cleared spot on the floor. "Let's get started."

Remus slid off of the desk he had been perched on, the only one, other than the teacher's desk, that had not been moved.

"May was well start from day one. You've got a lot to do, kid. Two weeks to make up in one night. C'mon"

Two arms length separated them. Sirius stood on one side with an annoyed expression with Remus across from him, wary with his arms crossed tight. Sirius sighed and grabbed him by the wrist.

"I said _come on_."

Remus gritted his teeth and allowed himself to be dragged closer. He looked at Sirius, broke eye contact and went back to reading the black board. His mind couldn't wander away from the backboard in the gym.

A heavy weight settled around his neck. For a moment, Remus thought that his professor was hugging him. The one sided hug quickly evolved into a headlock.

He yelled faintly in surprise and back stepped rapidly. When he moved, Sirius moved with him.

"You didn't expect it to be that easy did you?"

Sharp fingernails bit the lightly browned skin of Sirius' forearm. They left long, white trails in their wake.

"That isn't going to work," he hissed, catching Remus' fingers in his own hand and restraining them.

"Get off," Remus said in a voice that was controlled and terrified all at once.

"If peeling my skin off didn't work, what makes you think that would?"

"Please?" Remus growled, nearing the end of his patience.

Sirius snorted.

"That's not going to work, I can tell you that for sure."

Remus clenched his jaw and twisted his body. Sirius twisted with him.

"Not quite. We went over this yesterday. What do you do, Remus?"

Irritated, Remus balled his hand into a fist and drew it back from his body.

"Are you going to punch me, Remus?" Sirius asked with an undercurrent of amusement laced into his tone of voice.

"No," he bit out and elbowed Sirius hard in the stomach.

The breath left Sirius' lungs with an audible sound and he fell to his knees. Remus scrambled forward, only to find himself caught short and dragged to the ground. Down on one knee, Sirius inhaled deeply, regaining his breath. He had one hand wrapped tightly around Remus' ankle. In front of him, Remus pushed himself up from his stomach to sit on the back of his heels with his back to his teacher.

Remus breathed, annoyed, and as if it were some signal that Sirius had been waiting for, he found his head back in a headlock.

"Interesting approach, but as you can see, it's not the most effective. Back to basics it is then," Sirius said as he stood up and released his student at the same time.

As soon as he felt the grip loosen, Remus lunged for the opposite end of the room. Face flushed, eyes guarded, and fists clenched.

"I think this detention is over, sir," he said, with more emphasis on the 'sir' than was needed.

Sirius looked up at him with a curious expression on his face. "No. It's not over until I say it's over. Now get over here and show me the ground rules."

Remus approached the other man slowly with wary eyes and his arms crossed protectively. He stopped short just beyond Sirius' reach.

"Okay, now if you go like this," he said, taking a step forward and quickly placing a hand on Remus' shoulder before he could take a step back.

Already tense muscles snapped and sent Remus ten feet away in a second.

"I'm not going through a repeat."

Remus was suspicious enough to keep a safe distance for the remainder of the time that they had together. It was even reluctantly that he allowed his teacher talk him through the motions of the fine art of self defense.

Sirius sighed and glanced at the clock mounted high on the wall. It read eleven thirty. They had been at it longer than he had originally suspected.

_Nearly four hours and we didn't even manage to get anything done._

"Alright. Fine. Enough, you're done," Sirius said and magically moved all of the desks back into their proper places.

Without a word, Remus started for the door. Just as his hand wrapped around the knob, his teacher's slapped down on top of it, tightening in assurance that Remus wouldn't be able to open the door and flee.

"I expect you to show up to every single one of my classes," Sirius whispered lowly behind him. He could feel the heat from the younger boy's body as Remus' muscles shifted nervously beneath the surface of his skin. "And to participate in all of them. Do you understand me?"

Remus tried to make the tendons in his neck move in response. He could barley move his head.

"Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir."

_It really is hard to be mad at him when he does shit like that._

"You're not fooling me, you know," Sirius said as he turned the knob by guiding Remus' hand as if he were a puppet. He followed his student out into the hallway.

"I wasn't aware that I was trying to fool anyone."

Sirius snorted as they took a right turn, headed in the direction of Remus' dorm room. The boy would be in a whole mess of trouble if any of the nightly patrols happened to find him out of bed at such an hour and without an escort.

"It may work on the other teachers here, but it's not going to work on me."

"Sir?" Remus' voice was a mixture of complete confusion and curiosity as they started to climb the flight of stairs that would take them to the floor where all of the student rooms were.

"That. Acting all polite and innocent. It wont work on me," Sirius said, stopping in front of the door that opened up into Remus' quarters that he shared with sixteen others.

He unlocked it with a combination of the metal key from his pocket and the wand hidden stealthily up his sleeve. Remus turned from the door, his hand lingering behind him on the knob and shared a small smile with Sirius.

"I'll have to remember that next time. Looks like I'll need a new approach. Thanks, sir," he said quietly, turned away from Sirius, and let himself into the dark room.

–


	5. Chapter 5

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Sirius grabbed a beer from the ice box that actually held no ice but was kept magically cool and settled on the bed. He leaned back against the king sized headboard and pulled the tab up.

_Now what? _He thought and took a long sip. _I could always give Andy a call. See how that ring's treating her._

He set the gray and blue aluminum can down on the bedside table and stretched his arms high above his head. They folded behind his head and his eyes dropped closed.

_Yeah, I think I'll call Andy...In a minute._

The raven haired man's mind began to slip further and further into dark abyss as the weight of yet another day fully settled on his shoulders. Just as his mind was on the edge of being lost to sleep, a muffled voice came from the inside of the table next to his head.

Sirius startled awake, blinked a few times in hazy confusion, and swore. He leaned over and dug through the side drawer until he unearthed a slender mirror with a simple, thin gold frame running the length of its circumference.

"James?" He asked groggily, running a hand over his face. "You there?"

A second passed with no response from the other side of the mirror. All that he saw was the tired reflection of his own face. Sirius set the mirror next to the open beer can and excused it on his sleep addled mind imagining things.

"Sirius! Hey, Sirius," James' voice spoke from the reflective surface of the mirror.

_Now I know I heard that_, Sirius thought as he snatched up the mirror.

"Thanks for answering, you ass. I just tried talking to you," Sirius said sarcastically and sat up against the headboard.

"I could say the same to you. I've only been trying to get a hold of you for the past ten minutes. What the hell were you doing? Jacking off?"

"I'll have you know that I was _sleeping_. But yeah, I do miss Andy if that's what you mean."

"No one to warm your bed, Si?"

"Do I even have to explain this to you? They're students, I'm a teacher. Big jail time for me."

"At least you're not trying to excuse yourself by claiming loyalty to your fiancee."

"I thought that was what the ring was for."

"No, that's just a way for you to gloat over your fortune. That thing was _expensive_."

Sirius shrugged and took another drink from his beer. "Alright, I know you didn't call just to talk about Andy. So spill, what's up?"

"Can't a guy just call to say hey?"

"Not really, no."

James sighed and shook his head. "Quarry talked to me this morning."

"Oh? What'd that bastard have to say?"

"He found out more about this kid of yours."

Sirius' heart started to beat a little faster and he leaned forward slightly.

"Anything useful?" His voice had grown hoarse.

James bit his bottom lip and mulled the information over in his head.

"Not really," he answered slowly.

Sirius swore under his breath. He leaned back and felt the tense knot of anxiety loosen in his chest.

"Let's hear it then," he sighed, swirling the rest of his beer around in the can.

"He's white."

The can paused half way to Sirius' lips.

"That's it?"

James nodded.

Sirius drained the rest of the beer in one long gulp. He crushed the can in his hand and it gave way easily. He aimed at the garbage can on the other side of the room and threw the can at it. It hit the wall behind the garbage can and fell into its awaiting mouth.

_Just like the backboard of a basketball hoop..._Sirius thought absently and turned his attention back to James.

"Are you sure that's it, James? Nothing more? Not even one tiny little detail, perhaps?"

"Positive, that's all Quarry had to say. He wanted to know if you'd had any luck so far."

Sirius snorted and pulled the small, black leather bound notebook out of his back pocket. He flipped to the front page and added the word 'white' to the characteristics list.

"With all of the astounding information I've been given, Quarry'll be lucky if I find out who this guy even _is _by the end of the year, let alone kill him," he answered casually and flipped a few pages in the notebook until he came to the page with the names listed on it. He crossed out three of the sixteen names on his list, leaving him with thirteen eligible identities.

"Does it help any?" James asked when Sirius' pen had stopped moving.

"A little bit. Not much anyway. You may as well tell Quarry the next time you talk to him that he'd better tell you something useful or I'm quitting."

"Alright, I'll talk to him. You know, just because you're not getting laid three times a day does not mean that you have to go off on me—" James began and was abruptly cut off when his face vanished from view.

"James," Sirius said, almost jumping toward the mirror with his nose close to it. His heart beat quickened as he scanned the blank depths for any sign of his friend.

"James?" He repeated, voice rising in panic. The image of a man with a hidden face striking James with a solid lead pike in the back of the head over and over until blood splattered kept presenting itself in his mind's eye.

His fears where confirmed when he could make out a faint sound. It sounded like screaming.

"_James_!" He screamed desperately into the mirror.

_This is such a dangerous job. People looking to kill you out of revenge and competition lurking around every corner. What the hell was I thinking? Getting James involved in this mess...? What was I thinking when I asked him to be my intelligence correspondent..._

The distant sound of James' name echoed around the room. Sirius watched his expression in the mirror. The frown line between his brow deepened as each moment spent in the unknown passed. Sirius didn't even realize that he was holding his breath until he saw his complexion slowly turn from pale to a blue tint.

A moment later, James' disheveled head appeared on the other side of the two way mirror. Sirius did a quick scan of James' face. His hurried scrutiny showed no sign of blood smeared horridly across James' face, nor any fear in his hazel eyes. Instead of fear in his eyes, there was irritation. Relief washed over Sirius and he slouched back against the headboard once more.

"Damn, James, you gave me one hell of a heart attack," he whispered under his breath and ran a calming hand through his hair.

"No, Apollo! Get _down_! _Get down_!" James roared as a massive black and brown dog barked and tackled him.

Sirius' heart lightened at knowing that the only threat his best friend faced was a hyper four-year-old shepherd mix that he'd taken off the streets as a puppy. He chuckled and shook his head as he heard James swear a few more times and fully reappear in the mirror.

"You and your damn dog, Sirius, I swear," James muttered, straightening his shirt and trying to smooth his hair flat. All he succeeded to do was to make his dark hair stick up even further.

"He's probably hungry. Have you fed him today?"

"I was going to feed him later."

"Well, he's hungry. Can't you tell? Give Appy the mirror and go feed him."

"He's not a _person_, Sirius—"

"Give him the mirror."

James groaned and reluctantly vanished from the mirror. Sirius could see the ceiling of one of the homes that the two of them shared as James set the mirror on the floor. He heard James' voice as he tried to direct Apollo to the mirror.

"Over here. No! Right there, you dumb animal."

Sirius sighed and shook his head. A cold nose pressed itself against the mirror.

"Hey, Appy," Sirius called loudly for the dog to hear him. Part of Apollo's muzzle became visible. "James is going to feed you now, boy. You're hungry, aren't you? What has James been doing to you, huh?"

The dog whined, being able to hear Sirius' voice but not see him.

"Okay, okay. Give the mirror back to James, Appy. _James_."

Sirius waited another minute until he could see James again.

"Smart, isn't he?" He proclaimed smugly.

"Too smart for his own good," James muttered with a frown. "Gross, your dumb dog slobbered all over the mirror, Sirius."

"He's just saying hi. What have you been feeding him?"

"The stuff that you've got in the laundry room."

"How many times a day?"

"Once, just like you said."

"I said _twice_, once in the morning and once at night."

James coughed awkwardly and scratched at the back of his neck.

"That's what I meant. Once...In the morning and again later. You just never let me finish."

"You'd better not kill my dog, Potter."

"Hey, he was getting fat anyway. He didn't need all that food."

"Not if you've been walking him."

James groaned. "Don't worry about your dog. He will still be here when you get back."

"You'd better hope so. For your sake."

"Yeah, yeah...So, how's school?"

"I'll tell you one thing, mate," Sirius started warily as he got up to get another cold beer from the ice box. "It's not Hogwarts, that's for sure."

Sirius pulled the tab on his second beer and settled back down on the bed.

"I could have guessed that much. We never had werewolves running around the halls," James answered, glad to have something other than Apollo to discuss.

"That and we didn't have people turning up dead. I dunno, this school might get a hold of this kid and kill him before I even have a chance to find out his name."

"Is it really that bad?"

"I can't say that I wasn't expecting it, but yeah. It's pretty ugly over here. You've got to keep after them all of the time. They're never alone. They have this whole staff of people just to escort them through the halls from class to class. They sit out in the hall and collect them as they come out. It's weird. The dorms are bolted every night and have got some pretty complex spell work on them. There's cameras in the dorm rooms and bathrooms so that they never really _are _alone. And yet, shit _still _happens."

"How the hell does that even _happen _though?"

Sirius sighed and took a sip of his beer. His fingers drummed absently on the cool side of the aluminum can.

"You and everyone else here is wondering the same damn thing. We don't know how it's been happening. Apparently, security measures have always been tight, but this kind of stuff has been happening regardless."

"Sounds like you got more than you bargained for."

"Got that right," Sirius yawned.

"Oh, right, I forgot about the time difference," James said sheepishly. "What time is it over there?"

"Four," Sirius said with a groan as his eyes caught sight of the red numbered, digital clock.

"Geeze, what time's your first class?"

"Like eight."

James winced. "Ah, tough luck, Sirius. I don't have work tomorrow."

"Bastard," Sirius muttered and took one last gulp before putting the can down on his bedside table.

"Well, Si, I guess this is good night, yeah?"

"Looks like it."

"I'll give you a call some time tomorrow or this weekend. Or something. Maybe I can get something out of Quarry yet."

"Yeah, okay. That sounds good to me. Say hi to Andy for me. Tell her I love her and all that shit."

James mock gagged on the other end of the mirror.

"Do you want me to fuck her for you, too?"

"Just shut up, wanker."

"Night, Sirius."

"Night, James."

–

It was Sirius' fault.

It was _all _Sirius' fault.

Come to think of it, there was probably a rule somewhere about using a teacher's first name. There had to be a rule about it somewhere when in came to common proper conduct. Or so Remus had been taught.

On the first day of classes, the new self defense professor had insisted that they use his first name. He would not stand for being addressed by such titles as Mr. or professor.

The other students had admired the informality. It did nothing but make them like Sirius even more. Calling him by his first name in a way connected him to them. In their minds, it put them on an equal level instead of placing him on a higher pedestal. It only made Remus wary.

"I think too much," Remus muttered, one hand busily digging through his duffel bag for a clean pair of clothes while his other one hastily brushed his teeth. "It's what everyone says and, for once, I completely agree."

The white foam of the lathered mint toothpaste flecked his lips and chin. Remus groaned with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth as he pulled on his pants.

_I'm brushing my teeth before I eat. Just how fucking pointless is that? Doesn't really matter anyway, I'm too late to care either way._

"For once, I agree with _all _of them _completely_," he growled, quickly slipping into a clean shirt and socks. Remus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand with a grimace and laced up his shoes with the other.

His detention the previous night, the first in his entire school career, not that it was saying much, had run late. Most teachers didn't even bother with detentions, seeing how they left as if the effort would usually just end up wasting both their own and student's time alike.

His first detention and it had run just past midnight. Then there was the whole problem that once he was in bed he had trouble falling asleep. His mind strayed back and forth from his defense professor, to the gym, to his father in the long quiet hours of the night.

Sirius had kept him out late. And now, because of that, he was paying the price by not being up the usual hour before the others to get to breakfast. He wasn't even on time. Ten minutes late to breakfast, the staff would not be too pleased about that, what with his clocking in late. There would certainly be questions as to what went on during those ten minutes that had been lost to him.

As if ten minutes was enough time for him to do _anything_.

Remus swore under his breath and bolted out of the door. He grabbed his backpack quickly on the way out, not even bothering to check if it was the one with his school books or school clothes.

_It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't so hungry_, he thought as he scribbled his name and check in time on the chart posted outside of the door. There was no point in lying about the time. They always knew either way.

Remus warily entered the hall and, when no teacher jumped him, got a paper plate from the stack on the end of the sprawling, crooked table. There were still a lot of people crowded around it, grabbing greedily at bacon strips, cold pancakes made from cheap batter, and plastic cups filled with pulp riddled orange juice.

Remus took his time working around the hungry mass to avoid any unreasonable disputes over food and went to the far end of the table. He spooned a bit of assorted fruit, most too ripe or not ripe enough, and took a few slices of bread.

He was already running late as it was so there would be no time for him to spare to eat in the small courtyard attached to the mess hall. Surely all of the tables in the hall would be full by now.

They were.

Remus groaned and started toward the back of the hall in hopes of finding a mostly deserted table. Or at least one whose occupants wouldn't bother him.

He'd barley taken more than a handful of steps when someone stepped into his path and rooted themselves in front of him.

"Excuse me," Remus said quietly, not looking up at the human road block in his way.

"Just where the fuck do you think you're going, you little fucker?" A biting voice asked to his retreating back.

Remus froze, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes reluctantly and turned to face the speaker.

"Good morning, Rob. Tell me, is fuck the only word in your vocabulary? You're not really that stupid, are you?"

"Like you're one to talk," the taller boy snarled, advancing violently and knocking the plate out of Remus' hands.

Remus frowned in thought. "The funny thing is, I was under the impression that I had a rather sophisticated vocabulary. At least mine consists of more than vulgar slang."

Rob and the group surrounding him growled their disapproval.

"You dumb fuck," Rob growled, tangling one hand in Remus' hair and the other in his shirt. Remus gritted his teeth together and forced himself to look his offender in the eye. "I'm about to add a new meaning to the word pain in your vocabulary."

"We've met on a few occasions, thanks," Remus bit out sarcastically.

"I'm going to introduce you to a whole new kind," Rob whispered with a crooked smile.

As Rob's fist pulled back and the surrounding crowd closed in in excitement, someone cleared their throat loudly on the outskirts of the formed semicircle. The crowd broke, scattering like rats fleeing a sinking ship, and Rob dropped Remus abruptly. Remus rubbed at the back of his neck absently and lifted his backpack back to his shoulders.

"Boys," Wilton said coldly, eying the both of them up and down critically.

"Headmaster," Remus answered quietly with a slight incline of his head. Rob remained silent and looked casually over Wilton's shoulder with sealed lips.

With a parting glance, the headmaster of Stonegate slowly left them when he was reassured that any potential threat of a fight had vanished. Rob let out a slow breath and unclenched his fists. Fighting was considered a serious enough offense to get an individual expelled from Stonegate. Most would take Stonegate over a Ministry holding facility.

"We'll talk later," Rob growled in his ear as he shoved past Remus, hitting him hard in the shoulder. "I'd watch myself if I were you, Lupin, least you want to end up on some backboard next."

It would be a long time before Remus would be able to stop thinking about Rob's words.

–


	6. Chapter 6

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Christmas time at Stonegate was a disappointment. It was like nothing Sirius had ever experienced before. The days leading up to the start of winter break were dull and treated as if they were the same as any other day. There were no extravagant decorations in the hallways, classrooms, dining hall, or anywhere in the entire school. One would never guess that Christmas was steadily growing closer.

Not even a tree adorned the school. The tradition of placing a pine in the dining hall had stopped a few years back when a group of students had toppled it over and drug it around the school. Only to, at the end of their journey, set fire to it with a match, and left it to burn in front of the headmaster's office.

The only thing that Sirius could recognize as something familiar was that the students were allowed to go home over their incredibly short break that began on the twenty-third and ended promptly on the second. If a student had a place to go to, or if they even wanted to go in the first place was a matter that varied for each student. For the most part, they stayed at the school over break.

"It's horrible here, Andy," Sirius confided to his fiancee as she listened with pursed lips on the other side of the mirror that she had borrowed from James. "It's nothing like Hogwarts."

Andy sighed tiredly. "I know, Sirius, you've told me before."

"Sorry, it's just that it's hard to believe that they don't do anything for Christmas," he grinned sheepishly. "It's so different."

Andy sighed again and her eyes wondered away from the mirror. Sirius frowned as he watched her attention visibly wane.

"Something the matter?"

"No. Nothing's the matter. I just wish that you'd talk to me about anything other than that stupid school. I haven't talked to you in _weeks_, and when we finally do talk, all you can do is rattle on about that damn hell hole."

"Andy, I—"

"Frankly, Sirius," she said coolly. "I don't care."

"I'm sorry that you're pissed. I'm just trying to talk to you, Andy."

"I don't mind talking," she snapped. "What I do mind is when you talk _at_me instead of _with _me."

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, shoulders slumping slightly as their conversation started to take on a turn that he hadn't wanted to follow. "Just lay off, okay? I'll be home after the school year and we can get everything square—"

"Are you?" Andy asked suspiciously.

Sirius blinked twice.

"Am I what?"

"_Coming home_?"

"Of course

"That's what you said the last time."

"Andy, what are you talking about?"

"You! I'm talking about you!" She hissed, brushing a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. "You and your stupid _job _that you're always away for. I don't even know what you do! You never told me."

"I've already told you that I _can't _tell you. It'll just get you involved, Andy, and I don't want you hurt."

"Stop trying to protect me. I'm not a child."

"I'm not treating you like a child—"

"Yes you are," she spat while her eyes rapidly filled up with tears.

"Oh, Andy, please don't start crying—" Sirius whispered and flinched slightly when that first tear rolled over the edge of her eye lid and slid down her face.

"I'll cry all I want to! Don't tell me what to do! I bet there is no job, is there? That's why you can't tell me. Because there _is no job_."

"That's not it," he sighed warily as he rubbed at his temples where a headache was brewing steadily. What was supposed to be a conversation discussing Christmas plans was turning into something sinister and ugly. "I've told you over and over before. _I can't tell you_. Why are you questioning me now all of a sudden?"

"What's her name, Sirius? What nonsense have you spilled into her ear?" Andy accused, her voice nearly incoherent through her tears.

"There's no one else, if that's what you're thinking."

"That's just the problem. I don't know _what _to think."

"Then just don't think. Don't even worry about it because there's nothing to think about."

"How the hell am I supposed to know that? How do I know that you're not on some beach somewhere, getting drunk off of cheap liquor, with an entire flock of girls at your side?"

"When I asked you to be my wife, Andy, I meant it," Sirius said coldly.

"But do you, Sirius? Do you really?"

"Yes!" He roared into the mirror, leaping to his feet in aggravation and paced tight circles around the bedroom of his private quarters. "Yes, dammit! What more do I need to do? What, Andy, what?"

On the other end of the mirror, nothing even remotely lucid could be heard. Andy's crying had created a static that glared harshly in Sirius' ears, and made him cringe with guilt to know that he was the cause of the tears running down her face. He stroked the cool surface of the mirror with the pad of his thumb.

"Enough now, baby. Please stop—"

"Fuck you, Sirius," she hissed, swiping the tears from her face and eyes. "Fuck you. Don't try to talk yourself out of this. I want to know what's going on and I want to know now. Why can't you tell me about your job. Where are you _really_?"

Sirius gritted his teeth together in an effort to keep from screaming at her and smashing the mirror to pieces. He had tried to play the nice guy and now that she had taken that for granted his temper was hanging on an extremely thin thread.

"For the last time, Andy," he growled slowly, temper flaring. "I. Can't. Tell. You."

"Fine," Andy snapped, wiping the last of her tears away angrily. "Then I don't want to talk to you until you can."

The connection broke between the two of them and Sirius was left with a mirror that was blank of Andy's blue eyed face. The mirror reflected his own upset reflection instead; he felt as if he were very close to losing what little patience he had left.

_Figures, _Sirius thought venomously as he scrubbed at his eyes with an uncaring fist and shoved the mirror back in its drawer. _That bitch decides to pick a fight with me right before I have a class. I don't _need _this_.

He slammed the door to his room so that the sound rocketed around the empty corridor. The clock outside of the double doors of the gym proclaimed that he was fifteen minutes late as he slammed both of them open.

His awaiting class wheeled around sharply at the sudden out burst and relaxed upon seeing who it was coming towards them. A few of them approached him eagerly and greeted him. Sirius grabbed the boy closest to him and threw him to the ground.

"You little assholes had better not say a word today," Sirius snarled, glaring at each one of them in turn.

His irrational anger at Andy had found the perfect outlet. They nodded back at him and the boy on the ground with the foot set firmly on his chest did not move a muscle. Sirius' gaze shifted from the crowd to the boy on the floor.

"I am in no mood."

The students cleared easily for him and swapped whispers behind his back. Sirius stepped onto the middle of the mat and for a moment, stayed turned away from his students to collect himself. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright," he said in a voice of forced calm. "Let's start with a quick—"

Sirius broke off when he noticed that he didn't have the attention of all in the room. In the very back of the group was a boy with brown hair that apparently found the floor more interesting than what Sirius had to say.

"I'm not dealing with this shit today," Sirius growled, pushing his way through the crowd of students and grabbed the inattentive boy by the shirt collar. "Congrats, Lupin. You just volunteered to be our first demonstration."

Remus hardly had time to look up before he was shoved into the middle of the mat in front of everyone. Sirius had a vice grip on his forearm. Remus couldn't hide his pained expression or surprised yelp as his arm was unexpectedly yanked behind his back and twisted.

"What do you do, Remus? Don't you remember?" Sirius hissed quietly so that it was a conversation that only existed between the two of them.

Remus struggled backwards and Sirius moved with him. His classmates watched on in silence.

"No? Maybe someone can help you out?" He looked up from Remus to the rest of the class. Not one of them moved nor offered to help. "No? Looks like you're on your own then."

Normally, the others would have found it funny, a highly amusing spectacle. Today, the situation had lost all of its potential humor.

"Get the fuck off me," Remus snapped, prying Sirius' hands away and shoving back hard.

Panting, he looked from the defense teacher to his classmates. He muttered something under his breath and stormed off toward the back of the gym.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sirius yelled after him. He saw not Remus' swiftly retreating back but Andy's. It made him all that more upset and angry all at once.

Remus kept on walking, flipped his middle finger over his shoulder and let it linger. He snatched up his backpack from next to the door and left the gym.

All eyes were on the door as it swung shut behind him. The students looked from it and back to Sirius slowly.

Sirius sighed, half turned away from them, and waved blindly in the direction of the twin doors.

"Go. Just go and get out of here."

It took a second, but when the first person made a move for the door, they all moved in one massive flow. They left in silence and burst out in talk as soon as they'd cleared the doorway. Sirius listened carefully until the sound of the door closing stopped ringing in his ears and the thunder of footfalls faded completely. He collapsed onto the mat and wished for a beer, the mirror, and James' understanding words.

–

Remus adjusted his backpack without breaking stride as he passed the open door of a classroom. The noise of the room spilled out into the hall and broke the silence. He could hear the others some paces behind him with their loud voices and heavy steps.

_Best way to get us all caught and expelled, right there_, he thought and rounded the corner that would take him to the only window in the entire school void of bars. _I don't think I've ever wanted to be out of this school as bad as right now—_

It was already December, but he had his own ways to keep warm outside. Remus stopped dead in the hallway about halfway from the window that would let him onto the roof and eventually take him to the east yard.

At the end of the hallway was the headmaster, walking slowly down the hall and sticking his head into the classrooms as he passed to make sure that everything was running smoothly. He hadn't yet noticed Remus, but that was only a mere matter of time.

Remus' tense body had just decided to dart for the window when the rest of his classmates rounded the corner. All the noise that they made quickly attracted Wilton's unwanted attention. Remus' shoulders tensed further as Wilton stared at them for a split second in surprise, trying to comprehend what students were doing out of class without the attendance of a staff member.

"What are you all doing out of class?" Wilton asked, coming towards them. Remus had just opened his mouth to answer when someone supplied the answer from somewhere behind him.

"Sirius let us out."

Remus nearly winced at the use of the defense professor's first name.

"Who?"

"Mr. Black," Remus corrected quickly.

"I highly doubt that," he said slowly, eying them carefully as if he fully believed that they had knocked their teacher unconscious and then fled at once.

"He did."

"Right. We'll see about that. Now up to your dorms."

There was much grumbling and stalling as Wilton started to lead them back to their dorm room. Remus looked longingly at the window before allowing himself to be led away like some small and irresponsible child. After the last boy filed into the room, Wilton locked the door with wand and key.

"Wonderful last day before break," Remus sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed with a worn paperback.

–


	7. Chapter 7

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Sirius didn't hear the sound of the door opening, nor did he hear the click of polished dress shoes across the gym floor as they approached him. He didn't even realize that there was another person inside of the room until he heard his name called.

"Mr. Black," a formal voice said curtly.

Sirius looked slowly away from the blank wall. Wilton stood before him, almost intimidating in his gray suit and highly sophisticated dress shoes.

"Or should I call you Sirius?" Wilton asked coldly with a strained smile.

"Sirius," he said, rising to his feet and towering a full two inches over the other man. "Mr. Black makes me feel old."

"Ah, yes. But don't they say that with age comes wisdom?"

Sirius shrugged. "So they say. Me? I say it brings insanity."

"I guess that you are welcome to your own opinion, yet I must disagree with you."

A slight smile touched Sirius' lips. "Somehow, I find it hard to believe that you are here to discuss opinions, Mr. Wilton."

"You're right. Actually, I would like to discuss your class."

"Which one?"

"The one that's supposed to be here right now."

"What about them?"

Wilton made a show of looking dramatically around the gym.

"Well, I don't see them."

"I'm sure you have. That's why you're here, isn't it? You found them wondering around somewhere, else you wouldn't be here."

"I did, and I also believe that I made it quite clear that they are your responsibility as long as they are in—supposed to be in—your class."

"Is there anything I need to take responsibility for, Mr. Wilton?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I'm guessing that they've done something unsavory. That's why you're here, right?"

Wilton pursed his lips into a fine, thin line.

"I'm here to tell you that if it happens again, you can be replaced."

Sirius just nodded, his anger starting to fade with Wilton's statement. He couldn't lose his job teaching at Stonegate. If he did he'd lose the contract, the remainder of the pay that was to be presented upon completion, and, most likely, his life.

_I swear, this will never be worth all the trouble._

Sirius nodded absently but did not brake his steady gaze from Wilton.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Black," Wilton said in departure with a slight incline of his head.

Sirius watched as Wilton turned and left. He wondered how he hadn't heard Wilton's approach. His shoes were so loud.

–

Remus sighed in relief as he saw the little onyx colored car round the bend. He leaned even further into the chain link security fence, fingers lacing through the diamond holes. It stopped about twenty feet short of the fence and the occupant exchanged ten minutes of conversation with an unseen correspondent on the other side of the intercom mounted on the side of a very small building.

Remus shifted from foot to foot, wishing that check out didn't take so long. A minute later and a thin man in a gray uniform walked out of the small building and toward the main gate.

_Whoever built this school was extremely stupid to put the watch building so far away. _Remus thought in his anxiety.

The security guard opened the gate that was smaller than the average person, both in length and width. It suited the school well, a prison door for a prison.

Once Remus was clear of the gate, he jogged to the car and yanked the passenger side door open.

"I didn't think you were coming, for a minute," Remus half laughed and threw his backpack behind the seat.

"Of course I was coming. I come every year, don't I?" John asked, shifting the car from park to drive.

"Yeah, but I've never known you to be late before."

"True, but I've never had a big case the same day that I had to pick you up, either."

"Big case?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow as he fastened his seat belt and the car pulled farther and farther away from Stonegate. "And it was so important that you couldn't pick me up?"

"Hey, I got here didn't I?" John chuckled and turned the dial on the radio.

Remus wrinkled his nose and spun the dial when John settled on a station. "I don't like your music."

John swatted his hand away and changed the station back. "I don't particularly care for yours, either."

Remus sat back in defeat and rolled his window down. The bleak scenery that had been beyond the window every ride to school always looked a lot brighter on the ride home.

"Did you win?" Remus asked, thinking back to his father's court case.

"We're having steak tonight."

Remus grinned slightly and drummed his fingers on the outside of the car.

"I'm glad it was a good day, Dad."

"Enough about me, what about you and your good day?'

"I didn't have one," Remus muttered and turned the volume up on the radio.

"Nothing?" John asked as he turned the volume back down.

"Nothing."

"Well, I'm taking you home for Christmas."

"Okay, so maybe it wasn't too bad."

"Anything else?"

Remus' mind wandered back to Sirius.

"No, everything else was horrible."

John half winced and smiled sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Rem," John said quietly and placed a hand on his son's knee. "Are you okay?"

"Dad?"

"What is it, Rem?"

Remus looked at his father with desperate eyes and hoped that he would get the silent message. John let his foot off of the gas and guided the little car over to the shoulder of the curvy road. Even before the car had the chance to come to a complete stop, Remus unbuckled his seat belt, opened his door, and practically jumped out of the car.

"_Remus_," John yelled, slamming on the breaks as his son ran around the back of the car.

He twisted his head over his shoulder and unbuckled his own seat belt at the same time. As John reached for the door handle, Remus yanked it open from the other side. John got out of the car quickly and Remus hugged him tightly around the neck, buried his head under his chin.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, Remus, I missed you too," John said quietly as his heart slowed down, stroking soft hair.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Remus. I love you too."

They didn't move for a while and were late getting home.

–

It was ridiculous. Yet she insisted that it be this way and there was no arguing with her. Andy was a modest girl, quite unlike most any girl that Sirius had ever been with before. Never did she ware reveling clothing out in public, but instead saved it for when they were alone.

Sirius thought of it as bittersweet. He could never see her walk out of the house in a skirt that lacked one thread too many and neither could the rest of the world.

But this was not bittersweet. This was just _bitter._

Sirius knocked twice on the door to Andy's apartment that she _insisted _she live in until they were married. Sirius frowned and ran a hand through his hair.

_What difference does it make? We've already been in the same bed doing much more than just _sleeping. _But no. It's not proper to live in the same house before marriage. _Sirius snorted. _But sex is just fine._

"Sometimes I wonder about that girl," Sirius muttered under his breath.

He started to knock again, but stopped with his fist halfway to the door for the second knock. Along with other demands _You don't have to knock, honestly, Siri _was also one of them. Sirius turned the knob and, finding it unlocked, let himself in. He closed the door quietly behind him. It was supposed to be a surprise that he was home for Christmas break, after all.

Sirius stood in the conjunction of where Andy's tiny apartment kitchen and living room met and wondered where Andy was.

_Well, the door's open. So she's home._

He started silently for her bedroom, opting to surprise her. He couldn't stop thinking about how happy she would be. Maybe she was asleep and he could crawl in next to her.

The door opened with a slight groan and his hand groped for the light switch. The moment ninety watts of artificial light lit the room, Sirius began to question Andy's modesty.

All of the sheets were askew and the blankets were coiled on the floor like some monstrous, slumbering serpent. Exposed on the bed was Andy in nothing but smeared lipstick and a white bra with lace running along the edges. Her head was whipped over her shoulder to look at him with wide eyes—

_I'd say she's definitely surprised._

—and mouth slightly open. The man beneath her had on absolutely nothing.

Sirius stood in shock—

_Who's supposed to be surprised, exactly?_

—complete shock with his fingers still lingering on the light switch. He snapped back to reality when they started to move frantically in order to cover their bare skin.

"And here you thought that I was the one sleeping around," Sirius snarled, coming back to himself fully.

Sirius grabbed Andy by the wrist and pulled her protectively against his body. She withered against him and he could feel the sickening heat pooling off of her body.

"Get a hold of yourself, Andy," Sirius hissed and covered her with his coat.

"Siri?" She blinked up at him, the haze slowly leaving her eyes. "What? What are you doing here?" Andy's voice started confused and ended in near panic.

"I thought I'd drop by and surprise you for the holiday. But I see you're not the one surprised."

His hard eyes lingered over to the man that was pulling on his shirt. Sirius froze, half turned between the two of them.

"Regulus?" Sirius breathed in disbelief.

His younger brother bowed his head and pulled on his shoes quickly.

"Do we really look that much alike, Andy?" Sirius roared, rounding on her fully and gripping her firmly by the upper arm.

"Sirius, let go. You're hurting—"

"Do we?" He yanked her closer so that their faces were nearly touching.

She studied him intently for a moment with calculating eyes.

"After much consideration I think I chose the wrong Black after all."

Sirius' eyes flashed bright with hurt and he shoved her away, sliding the band off of her left ring finger at the same time. Andy stumbled backwards, her head narrowly missing the corner of the tall dresser. Sirius' coat slid down one slim shoulder, exposing the bare flesh.

"I knew there was a reason I kept the receipt."

Tears traced thin tracks down her face as she raced after him as he stormed out of her bedroom and toward the door. She clutched the sleeves of his jacket closer to her chest.

"Fine, leave! Go! I don't care! I never loved you, Sirius Black! Take your damn money and your ring and go!" She screamed in near hysterics and slammed the door behind him as he walked down the long stairs that led to her door.

He Apparated mid stride down the stairs and tumbled onto his unmade bed. Sirius laid, unable to move, with his face buried in his pillow and silent tears wetting the fabric.

"That's what I get for being so sentimental," he whispered quietly in a broken voice.

The small calico kitten crawled out of his pocket with the red bow around its neck that read a simple 'I'm sorry.' It curled up next to his head on the pillow and purred contently.

–


	8. Chapter 8

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

"I don't know why you waited until the end of the holiday to celebrate," Remus said, sliding into the round backed booth. "Now it feels like we're celebrating going back to school."

"I'll tell you why. The check didn't come in till yesterday."

"Then we should have been celebrating yesterday."

"At ten o' clock?" John asked with a slight smile as he opened his menu and scanned the first page of selections.

"Any time's a good time to celebrate."

"My bad, excuse me for being exhausted," John sighed as he glanced over the sandwiches and moved to the soups.

"From doing what, I don't know," Remus teased and hid his smile behind his own menu.

"Putting up with you. It's a tiring job."

"Just for that, I get two steaks."

"See, tiring _and _taxing my wallet."

Remus flipped the menu over to the back and leaned his elbows on the table. John nudged them with the edge of his menu. Reluctantly, Remus moved his arms and hands back down to his lap.

"At least you're not denying that I could eat two steaks."

John looked up at his only child with something akin to mock horror on his face. "Remus, I would never deny such a thing."

"So...Two it is?"

John sighed and closed his menu. "If you're sure."

"I have nothing to doubt."

"How about a nice inexpensive salad?"

"Yes, I'll have one of those, too."

"I meant," John started with a quiet chuckle, shook his head, and gave up. "Oh, never mind," he muttered as the bored looking waitress with the fake smile came over to place their order.

"Why not place me a drink, okay, Remus?" John asked and slid three sickles across the table. "Just a Firewhiskey's fine."

Remus raised an eyebrow as he picked up the small coins and stood up.

"You never drink."

John smiled slightly, reclining back at his ease in the leather booth. "It's a celebration, Remus. A celebration."

"Firewhiskey, please," Remus spoke quietly to the bar tender and swiveled away from the bar top on the spinning stool.

The restaurant was packed with many impatient parties. They were seated and chattering at the bar, tables, and booths. Some where in the middle of enjoying their dinner and others were waiting for their own. The bar was equally as crowded, with a little extra noise. A thick film of smoke hung over the dinners like a threatening curtain.

Remus looked left down the horseshoe shaped bar and saw the people at the bar downing their drinks and looking a little pink. The girls sitting in the laps of men with their short skirts laughed, intoxicated from the alcohol. Down the right side of the bar was much of the same. Except for the one man at the far end of the right side that looked vaguely familiar.

Remus leaned over slightly, elbows on his knees and strained for a better view. The click of glass on wood stopped him. He turned towards the bar again, muttered a quiet thanks in return, slid another sickle across the bar as tip, and reached for the glass. His fingers met a warm hand curled around the glass.

He jerked his hand away in surprise and looked up. His eyes trailed from the fingers laced around the glass, to an arm, shoulder, and at last ending up on the face of the bar tender.

"I'm sorry."

"No worries," the bar tender said smoothly, nudging the drink closer to Remus. He leaned over the counter with a sly grin on his lips. "You legal?"

"Excuse me?" Remus nearly flinched, drink in hand and head snapping up.

"Are you legal?"

Remus opened his mouth with a blush starting to form on his cheeks when a protective arm slid around his waist. Sharp teeth bit down on his lip as his head snapped over his shoulder.

"No. Taken," John said firmly, sliding the Firewhiskey out of Remus' hands and into his own. Remus gazed up at his father in confusion. John nudged him in the lower back with his elbow.

"Hi, John," Remus whispered, leaning into his father, making his posture natural and playing along. "Sorry," he said apologetically, throwing his head over his shoulder to look at the bar tender as they left the bar.

"Are you okay? That man was all over you," John fussed over his son, the protective father portrayal relaxing.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Remus said and grinned sheepishly up at his father. "Do you mind if we make a quick detour first," Remus said to his father, pulling him down the right hand side of the bar.

"Excuse me, sir?" Remus asked, placing a hesitant hand on the shoulder of the black haired man at the end of the bar.

"Don't call me sir," the man responded with a slight slur.

"Sir? Is that...Is that you?" Remus asked, removing his hand and taking a half step back.

The bar stool spun towards the two of them and Remus relaxed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, pubs," Sirius grinned back with bloodshot eyes, tilting his glass towards the pair of them and then draining half of it. "I always thought that you were too tight for a little drink."

John's arm tightened around his son's waist and he stepped forward.

"No, Dad, it's okay," Remus said quickly, stepping between his father and his teacher. "This is Mr. Black, my—"

"Sirius."

"Teacher."

John looked slowly between his son and the raven haired man who had just kicked back the last of his drink and was calling for another one.

"Sir, are you—"

"Don't call me sir, Remus," Sirius sighed, taking his drink from the bar tender and flipping him a coin in exchange. "We're not in school and even so, I really do insist. It's Sirius."

Remus eased out from under John's arm and sat down in the vacated seat to his defense professor's left. John stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Remus asked, eying the glass and wondering just how many drinks his teacher had already consumed.

"Don't worry 'bout it, kid. I'm not gonna be here much longer, anyway, so no worries. I'm leaving." Sirius sat long enough to finish off his last drink before collecting himself and standing up on unsteady legs. He nearly stumbled over the legs of the bar stool and leaned heavily against the wall.

Remus glanced from Sirius to his father with solemn eyes. John looked between the two of them for a moment before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

It took Sirius a moment to realize that John was speaking to him. When it registered, he turned with some difficulty to face him.

"What?"

"Did you drive here?"

"My bike," Sirius answered, standing up straighter with a hint of pride.

"Well, I'll make some arrangements to keep it here over night. Do you have anywhere to Apparate to?"

"Greece."

"Greece," John repeated dully, thinking he was hearing just another drunk's rambling.

Sirius nodded his head and abruptly stopped when his vision began to swim.

"That's what I said. Greece."

"Right, anywhere _local_?"

Sirius looked, dazed, at the ceiling. "No."

Remus looked back and forth between the two of them again.

"You're welcome back at my place until morning, then. You shouldn't be out here wandering in this state," John said at last after figuring that Remus would never forgive him if they left the man by himself.

"Not a state," Sirius hiccuped.

"Why don't you get those steaks to go, Rem?" John slid a galleon into his son's hand, more as a courtesy tip rather than a service one.

Remus retreated with one last glance over his shoulder. John sighed and led a drunken Sirius back to his bar stool.

"You sure have had quite a bit," John muttered as he left Sirius to ask for the manager to make arrangements about the motorcycle.

Remus came back to the bar and quietly waited back by the wall behind Sirius. He felt embarrassed to see one of his teachers so out of it. It was like something he had witnessed that he wasn't supposed to see.

"You act like I can't see you back there," Sirius spoke into the emptiness of his glass.

For a second in time, Remus imagined that he had sounded completely sober and sad.

"Are you—" Remus started just as his father returned, swinging his coat on as he walked.

"Ready to go? Everything is all taken of. You can stay at my place for the night, and we'll get you to...Home in the morning."

Sirius sized up John for a moment, his addled brain trying to figure out if he was being sarcastic or not. All it did was confuse him, so he stopped trying to reason with himself and got up to follow Remus and John. He had a hard time walking and after only a few steps, John was helping him on one side while Remus was on the other.

–

"Here's a blanket and a pillow. I'm really sorry about the couch, I wish we had a bed for you," Remus said, making up the impromptu bed on the couch and turning to a slightly less intoxicated Sirius.

The cold shower and hot mug of coffee had helped to chase the clouds away from his eyes. Remus only wished that they had had some hangover cure potion to completely relieve him.

"Do you want another blanket? It might get cold."

Sirius didn't say anything and walked past him to collapse on the couch. Ever since Sirius had sobered up some, he had remained silent. It seemed as if whatever had caused him to drink so much in the first place was now weighing heavily on his mind once more.

Sirius rolled over to face the back of the couch and crawled under the blanket.

"Good night, sir," Remus said quietly as he left through the arch way that opened up into a short hallway. Remus knew that something was terribly wrong when he was not corrected.

–

"Do you think he's hungry?" Remus whispered in bed an hour later. John rolled over and yawned.

"What?'

"Do you think he's hungry?"

"I don't know, Rem. It looked to me as if he was doing too much drinking to be concerned about eating," John mumbled, already half asleep again.

"He's really upset."

John sighed and turned his head to face his son completely.

"I know, Remus, but there's not much we can do. He's got somewhere to sleep for tonight. He's safe, isn't that enough?"

"He could be hungry though."

"Alright. Okay, if it'll make you feel any better, go give him something. But he's probably already asleep."

"I still want to try," Remus said, slipping out of bed.

"If it means I can sleep."

"Sorry."

John was already lost to a world of dreamscapes before Remus was out the door.

–

_I really hope he likes chicken soup_, Remus thought as he crept quietly down the hall towards the living room. Right before he reached it, he stopped, the hairs on the back of his neck rising.

He could hear muffled sobs coming from the room where his defense professor was supposedly asleep. Remus could not bring himself to move. A rather loud, mournful sound motivated him to creep even quieter still back into the kitchen where he had just come from.

Remus set the steaming bowl on the counter top and put a hot cloth over it to keep it hot and fresh least Sirius became hungry and wander into the kitchen.

–

"Was he hungry?" John muttered with his eyes closed in feign sleep as Remus climbed back into bed.

"I thought you were asleep."

"Was he?"

Remus hesitated. He pulled the covers up to his chin.

"No."

–


	9. Chapter 9

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

The world was a disoriented, throbbing mess. Sharp flares of light his bloodshot eyes and needles jabbed at his head. Sirius groaned and rolled so that his face was pressed into the back of the couch. Darkness eased the pains and aches slightly. He swore and clutched at his head with both hands, massaging at the temples in an attempt to banish the pain.

"That's not going to do you any good," a voice spoke from somewhere behind him. To Sirius' addled brain, it sounded distant and faint. "Here, drink this."

Firm hands lifted him into a sitting position but he kept his eyes shut in fear of the light. Sirius' arms fell limply and uselessly to his sides as his head was tilted back. Warm, sludge like liquid dripped down his throat.

Silver eyes snapped open in surprised disgust and his hands reached for his mouth. One of the hands at the back of his neck moved to swat his hands away from interfering.

"You've got to drink it all. Maybe next time you'll think before having too much of that stuff."

The hands and foul sludge left him panting and slouched against the couch.

"What...What?" Sirius coughed over and over again, specks of the horrible dark blue, almost black, potion flecked his hands.

"It's a hangover cure. I went out to get it specially for you. I could have just let you deal with it on your own, you know."

Sirius shook his head, vision no longer swimming as the foul taste became fainter and less distinct.

"Thanks...Where am I exactly?" Sirius asked, getting his senses back and putting his guard up.

"Sorry. Name's John Lupin," John introduced himself formally. He kept his hands to himself and did not offer a hand shake.

"Lupin?"

"You teach my son."

"Oh, you're...What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

John shrugged. "Not much to say, I guess. Remus recognized you in the restaurant and you were a bit...tipsy..."

Sirius snorted. "By the judge of the beginning of that hangover, I'd say it was a bit more than tipsy." He rubbed at his temples again. "Just say drunk, I promise I will not to get offended."

"Well...Seeing how you were a bit out of it, I took you back to my place to rest."

"Oh. Thanks are really in order then."

"Don't mention it. Come sit down a moment, wont you?" John motioned towards the kitchen.

Sirius went ahead to the brightly lit room with John following behind him. He had the feeling as if the older Lupin were cataloging his every movement and action.

"Any coffee?"

"Hm? No. Um, no. I'm fine."

"Anything?"

"No, really I'm fine," Sirius said, standing behind the chair across from John. "I thank you for your hospitality, but I really wouldn't want to intrude anymore."

"You're not intruding," John said firmly with an undertone of demand. "Sit."

Sirius slowly complied and folded his hands on the table top. He was wary, not liking how John was standing behind the chair on the other side of the table while he was forced to sit.

"You teach my son," John repeated calmly, his hands gripping the back of the chair.

Sirius' attention jumped sharply back to the older man.

_Perfect time to get the little fucker back._

"I don't think _teach_ is hardly the right word. He doesn't show up for class sometimes and when he does, he does not participate."

Across the table, John sat down but remained silent, as if he were waiting for Sirius to get to the point of his conversation.

_Bet you didn't know that, did you? Someone's in trouble now._

"And he doesn't seem to think learning how to defend himself is useful," Sirius continued, leaning forward slightly. "It's extremely important, especially at Stonegate. You don't want his mother crying at an early funeral, do you?"

"Remus' mother died in child birth," John answered quietly, staring Sirius directly in the eye.

Sirius hid his wince well. _Shit. Nice going, idiot._

"What I'm trying to tell you is that it's important that he learn how to take better care of himself and defend himself."

"And what I'm trying to tell you is that my son likes you and that you'd better not fuck with him."

Sirius blinked twice in stunned surprise.

"Likes me?" Sirius managed to choke out after a moment. "No, you don't understand. Remus _hates _me."

John shook his head and sighed.

"He speaks very highly of you. Remus has told me that you are his favorite teacher."

"How can that be when he doesn't even try in my class?" Sirius snorted with disbelief.

"I'll tell you why," John lowered his voice as he leaned across the table. "It's because you _care_."

Sirius sat in silence for a moment.

"What?"

John sighed again and leaned back in his chair.

"You care that he skips your class. You _notice _that he skips it. You went after him and dragged him back kicking and screaming. You know he _exists. _He's been skipping that class for a while now, but you're the only one who cared enough to drag him back and give him a _detention _for it."

John chuckled softly at the memory of reading Remus' letters. "He was _thrilled_ about that thing. He was so ecstatic that you cared enough to get him in trouble."

"I...don't understand."

"He likes you. Remus admires you. You're the only person at that whole school that cares or at least acknowledges him."

Sirius sat in shocked silence, looking down at his hands and thinking.

"He's never talked about anyone from that school and he doesn't talk about _anyone _the way he does you."

"I'm not anything to talk about."

John shrugged.

"Remus thinks so. Don't ruin it for him," he said quietly.

"Well, Mr. Lupin," Sirius said uncomfortably, getting to his feet. "I really must thank you again, but I really must be off now. I have other appointments to keep."

Sirius made a hasty and awkward flight down the hall and out of the front door. John heard the door click closed and sighed.

"You'd better not hurt him, Black."

–

It was always depressing. Trading in home for a place like Stonegate the way Remus had to do when he returned from winter holidays. It just didn't seem fair.

_Only six more months, _Remus thought as he walked across the empty gym. _The last_ s_ix months._

Remus sighed when he reached the back wall, turned and headed for the doors again. He hoped they were done patrolling the west wing by now so he could get to the roof.

There was a faint creak from behind the double doors and the muscles in his shoulders tensed.

The gym was as empty as it had been since three o'clock that afternoon when classes had ended. He relaxed and continued forward, close to the wall.

It was too late by the time he heard the second creak. His head shot up in time to see a figure running fast towards him on silent feet. Remus had just pivoted to change direction when a hot body was on top of him, forcing him against the wall.

"Not fast enough, are you?" The sneering words drifted off of Rob's serpent tongue.

Remus' breath hitched and the arm caught behind his back fumbled for the strap of his backpack. His sweaty palm gripped it hard so that his knuckles paled.

"How was your holiday, Rob?" Remus asked quietly with a neutral voice that betrayed nothing.

"Oh, fantastic. Let me tell you, smart ass," Rob snarled sarcastically.

"Did you do anything?" He asked calmly, mouth on auto drive and mind starting to settle down and contemplate the situation completely.

"Locked away in this prison is what I did. Not all of us have homes to go to."

"You have somewhere to go, Rob. Don't blame me—"

"Nowhere that _wants _me!" Rob yelled furiously, his sharp teeth clicking together crisply. Remus' eyes narrowed and, behind him, his fingers clenched around the backpack strap.

"So cry me a river, Rob," Remus growled quietly, using all of his weight to violently push the offending body away from him.

He pushed off the wall quickly and swung the backpack from behind his back. It connected sharply with the side of Rob's face.

Rob yelled in surprise as the force of the blow made him stagger backwards. Remus dropped his backpack and ran for the door. He could see three boys clustered around Rob and two right behind him out of the corner of his eye.

_They never travel alone._

The floor felt slippery beneath his feet and he knew that whoever was behind him was gaining quickly.

_Always in packs. Well, where's your pack, Remus? _Was the last thing racing through his mind before he was tackled and lay sprawled on the floor, the door only an arms length away.

Both boys that had been pursuing him where on him even before his vision had a chance to right itself. They dragged him to his feet and pulled him back to Rob. Remus dug his heels in as Rob approached him. He frowned slightly to see that Rob had escaped a broken nose and only suffered a bright red mark on the side of his face that was already swelling.

"That was pretty good, I have to give you an A for effort, Remus. But I'm afraid effort just isn't good enough."

Rob's eyes gleamed and Remus set his own into a hard glare.

"Now..." Rob's eyes left the face of his captive and traveled slowly around the gym. "Let's talk about basketball."

Remus' eyes widened and Rob's smirk deepened. He screamed when the first bit of rope cut into his wrists.

"Shut him _up_," Rob hissed, ensnaring a hand in Remus' hair and jerking his head back.

Remus' shoulders snapped backwards and he ripped his head away. His eyes were watering and stray stands of his hair where caught in Rob's fist.

The rope slackened momentarily before tightening viciously.

A heavy weight settled over Remus' shoulders and he buckled to the floor on his knees. A hand griped his hair again as he struggled. While one hand held his head back, another pair of hands pried his mouth open.

They screamed and yelled at one another. Through a panic haze, Remus could hear the drag of a zipper. There was a popping sound as a plastic lid was torn completely off of what Remus suspected to be a cheap plastic bottle.

Remus forced his lips together and tried to scuffle backwards and away from those that held him in a vice like grip. A sharp blow caught him hard in the stomach and he doubled over at the waist in pain. His eyes streamed as his head was yanked back once more. This time his mouth was pried and held open even through his struggles.

"What's wrong with your attitude, Lupin?" Rob asked, kneeling down next to Remus and speaking into his ear.

"Little sour, don't you think?"

Remus didn't make a sound and concentrated hard to keep his breathing even and normal. He wished he could wipe away the silent tears that slid down his face and dripped from his jaw line and the tip of his nose.

"I think we need to sweeten you up a bit," Rob nearly purred.

Remus was in bittersweet relief when Rob's voice left his ear and his violent presence left his side. He didn't like the way that Rob spoke, talked to him in particular. But if Rob was talking to him, he wasn't busy hurting him.

Remus squeezed his eyes shut as the bottle of sickly golden honey was waved in front of his face. The first drop stung his tongue, invading with a sticky sweet taste that made him want to gag. The rest followed steadily in thick ropes. It coiled down his throat and Remus lunged forward, throat constricting and dry heaving. He gagged and tried to cough it up, but it did no good.

The honey coated his mouth and stuck to the moist sides of his throat as it slid down. Remus could feel it as it slithered down towards his stomach to settle there like a heavy weight. His throat convulsed violently and constricted in on itself, making breathing a task like no other. Remus struggled for irregular and shallow breaths through his nose.

He was relieved when the last of it pooled in his mouth and the bottle was tossed away. It clattered dully with the wooden floor of the gym. His hands were cut free at the same time and the hands that had been holding him in place left abruptly.

Remus fell forward and caught himself with his hands. On his hands and knees he heaved. The honey surged up his throat and slowly made its way back down to rest uneasily in the pit of his stomach.

Rob kicked him in the side and Remus nearly collapsed to the floor. His body shook with the strength to keep his ground and his eyes stung with tears.

With a sneer, Rob grabbed a fist full of his hair and used it to drag Remus halfway around the gym before he found a spot that seemed well suited to begin his brutal assault.

Sirius turned away as the first punch hit Remus in the jaw. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and sulked further into the darkness to remain out of sight.

–


	10. Chapter 10

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

An anonymous note shoved under the headmaster's office door informed Mr. Wilton to personally check the gym. Wilton pondered the short note that was folded neatly and stored now in the front pocket of his gray, pinstriped suit as he walked. The heels of his expensive leather shoes with the minor scuffs on the toes clicked smartly against the hard floor.

Wilton peered through the glass on the double doors and into the darkness of the gym. He didn't see anything unusual with his nose pressed against the glass and his hands cupped around his face. Wilton fished out his key ring and flipped through it until he found the one for the gym doors. He unlocked them, but was taken aback to find that they were already unlocked.

He hesitantly pulled one of them open and searched blindly on the wall until he found the long line of light switches. He flicked all of them up and flooded the large room with artificial light. They hummed softly as Wilton took three slow paces further into the gym. His eyes widened as he walked toward the center of the room.

A dark puddle of blood pooled in the center of the gym. A drunken, splattered line swerved from the origin to the door.

Wilton turned back and started at the door. He walked briskly back to the door and stared hard at the floor of the hallway. If he strained his eyes, he could make out the dark spots on the floor, the blood contrasting against the floor.

His brow furrowed and his eyes widened not only in disbelief but also to better make out the irregular bloody path painted on the cold floor. The blood led Wilton down the long corridor that had no rooms leading off of it save for the spacious gym. Wilton followed it as it made a right turn and went up the first staircase. His eyes never looked up from the floor as he ascended the staircase carefully. He nearly tripped up the first step when he reached it.

The headmaster's cheeks colored with an embarrassed blush, but he was thankful for small miracles that no one had been present to observe his blunder in footing. Wilton straightened himself and cleared his throat before starting up the stairs, stepping over the first and landing on the second. He walked with one eye trained on the stairs and one glancing out of the corner every once in a while to watch in front of him.

He cleared the top of the stairs and looked up and down the corridor, but did not see any other drops but the ones that led under the crack in the door on the other side of the corridor.

_Dorm rooms_, Wilton thought vaguely as his mind registered the six strong doors that lined the opposite wall and the others he knew to be mirrored across from them.

_Grad boys' room._

The headmaster withdrew his numerous key ring and located the proper key deftly—

_How many times have I been up here to break up countless brawls?—_

and fitted it into the lock. He went over each name of every boy inside of the grad boys' dorm room as he took down the simple wards.

The door opened quietly and the few boys that had been up, whispering together in the darkness, promptly feigned sleep. Wilton ignored them and squinted his eyes at the floor, trying to make out the trail of blood. After a minute of scanning each bed carefully, Wilton found where the splatters of blood ended.

A bed in the back of the crowded dorm room had blood stained linen sheets. The wet stains shown in the moonlight filtering through the window. Wilton shut the door as quietly as he had opened it and set back to locking it.

"Lupin," he muttered quietly under his breath as he took one last look at the door and walked away.

Wilton continued down the hall, now with both eyes focused fully in front of him. He started down the staircase to wake up one of the care takers to clean up the blood leading from the gym to Remus Lupin's bed.

_Maybe I should get two_, Wilton thought with a wince as he spotted a large splatter of blood out of the corner of his eye. Wilton tilted his head up, determined not to look.

Upstairs in the grad boys' dorm room, Remus pulled the blankets over his head and closed his eyes.

–

Sirius absentmindedly tapped his wand into his open palm as he watched the double doors at the back of the gym. He sighed when the clock read five past the hour. His class had begun several minutes ago. Sirius turned his gaze from the doors to his awaiting students that were lined up around the mat in the middle of the floor and looking expectantly at him.

They parted easily for him as he made his way to the mat.

After checking the east yard during the first class that Remus had missed, Sirius concluded that he was still out after his midnight fight with Rob and his group.

_Can't really call that a fight now can I? It was one sided, _Sirius thought bitterly as his mind weaved in and out of focus, shifting between defensive maneuvers to Remus Lupin. It seemed to do nothing but that for the past three days that Remus had not shown up for any of his classes.

The first half of the lesson passed without much incident. At half past the hour they shifted gears and do more serious work. As Sirius paced the mat and talked to them at the same time, he used his hands to motion with. He broke off half way through his short lecture and craned his neck over the wall his student's heads formed. They all turned as one to follow his keen gaze.

The door shut quietly behind Remus as he shifted his backpack from his shoulders to the floor with a wince. He carefully rearranged his hair to cover most of his face before he started forward to join the rest of the class.

A relieved breath left Sirius as he watched Remus settle comfortably at a spot in the back of the group. The students whispered amongst themselves, swapping rumors and shifty glances. Sirius cleared his throat loudly and the attention of his students reluctantly returned to him.

Sirius continued exactly where he had left off as if he had never been interrupted in the first place. Remus was thankful that he did not want to cause any sort of scene. Sirius' mind was much more devoted to his teaching now that he wasn't wondering about Remus, but a small part of him was still asking sly questions concerning Remus all the way up until the bell rang at the end of class.

Sirius sat down on the thickly padded mat with his legs crossed and watched as his students left the gym with an escort that would deliver them to their next class and also be able to keep a close eye on them at the same time.

"No, I need to speak with Professor Black."

Sirius heard the familiar quiet voice of Remus Lupin and lifted his head out of his hands where he had been gently rubbing at his temples.

"It's alright, Bertha," Sirius called to the stern looking middle aged woman with the gray streaked hair. "We'll only be a few minutes. I will get him to his next class.

She pursed her lips so that they formed a thin line.

"So be it. But keep a careful watch on this one, Black. He hasn't been checking in for meals or any of his classes for three days straight now."

Bertha shot Remus a short lived glare over her shoulder as she left and the door swung shut loudly behind her. Remus winced and rubbed awkwardly at the crook of his elbow with his left hand.

"Well, that's a relief."

"What's a relief, sir?" Remus asked quietly with no genuine curiosity.

"I thought you were only skipping my class," Sirius explained as he stood up.

Remus blushed, his pale cheeks tinted with soft pink color.

"So, do you really need to talk to me or was that an excuse to get away from that screeching hag?"

"I..." Remus trailed off, realizing that he had no idea where to really begin. "I thought that you would want to talk to me, actually, sir."

"Cut the sir, and why did you think that?"

Remus' eyes shied away from his teacher's and he mumbled to the floor.

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "I thought you had something for me."

"And what would that be, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus looked up sharply, strands of sandy hair sliding from his face to reveal several angry looking bruises.

"A detention. Or three, really," he spoke as he quickly hid the dark and mature marks of abuse.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, and rocked on the balls of his feet to try and get a better view of Remus' face. "What have you done to warrant such a punishment? Guilty conscious?"

"No," Remus looked away again, playing with his fingernails intently. "I...You're not making this easy, you know?" He sighed, looking back up to meet his teacher's gaze.

"No, I don't," Sirius said with a slight smirk as Remus squirmed before him.

"I missed two classes. I was late for this one. I just thought that I was due three detentions, is all. It only seems fair."

"As I understand it, it's anything but fair," Sirius said quietly as he placed one slim finger beneath Remus' chin and tilted his head up.

Remus' hair fell back again, exposing his face in the bright light of the glaring lights over head.

"You had a pretty good reason for missing my class."

Sirius brought their faces closer together and Remus' eyes widened.

"I hope that you can now appreciate how important it is to be able to defend yourself," Sirius whispered, mouth beside Remus' ear.

The rude sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted what dry mouthed response Remus had had on the tip of his tongue.

Both of them turned to look at the doors and the source of the disturbance. Sirius' finger stilled under Remus' chin, their faces still close together. When they realized this, they both disentangled themselves from one another and stepped apart.

Sirius straightened his shirt lazily and turned his eyes from Remus to focus coolly on the stern faced Mrs. Bertha Nether.

"More than a few minutes, gentlemen," she snapped at them. Sirius nodded to her before turning back to a slightly flushed Remus.

"Your first detention will be Friday at eight. Same place as last time."

Remus nodded mutely and started for the doors slowly. He paused twice to glance over his shoulder as he walked. When he reached the door, Bertha grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him out into the hallway.

Remus spared one last glance over his shoulder at his quirky lipped defense professor before departing.

–


	11. Chapter 11

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Remus remembered to knock and wait to be let in personally for his second detention with Professor Black.

"Alright then," Sirius said briskly as he led Remus past his small combined kitchen and living room area and into his bedroom. Remus stood awkwardly in the doorway as Sirius settled himself comfortably against the headboard.

"Well, c'mon." He flicked his wand at the desk across from the bed and the papers, food wrappers, and empty beer cans fell off of it into the waste paper basket beside the desk. "Those lines aren't going to write themselves, are they?"

Sirius gave his wand another corkscrew wave in the air and the topmost drawer opened, and a sheet of paper and ball point pen settled themselves on the desktop. Remus finally took the first cautious step into his defense teacher's bedroom. It felt a little odd to be in such a personal place, but Remus pulled out the chair that accompanied the desk and sat down in it. He angled it so that he could see Sirius out of the corner of his eye.

Remus picked up the pen and set the point to the first line on the paper. A thin spot of ink formed from the unmoving point.

"I want you to write," Sirius' voice came from directly behind him. Remus jumped and had to resist turning around in his seat. "I will not miss two classes in a row, be late to the third one, and, in the meanwhile, worry my defense professor to death."

Remus turned in his seat, unable to stop himself, and looked Sirius in the eye with a expression of wary curiosity. "Worry my defense professor to death?"

"I was worried about you," Sirius said sincerely as he walked back to his bed and got comfortable on the bed spread. "One thousand times."

"One thousand?" Remus nearly choked as the pen almost fell from between his fingers.

Sirius smiled slightly from his position on the bed. "I was rather worried, you see."

Remus didn't answer, but instead looked down at the blank paper that stared accusingly at him. His fingers clenched tightly around the pen.

"Sir?"

"Sirius."

"Sirius?" Remus spoke hesitantly, afraid of breaking some invisible barrier.

"Remus?"

"I was thinking...Of a different way to spend detention."

"Oh? You don't say? But I'm the teacher, Remus."

"I know but," Remus trailed off, trying to pick the best words to convey his thoughts. Sirius waited patiently on the bed. "I was wondering if we could have a detention like last time."

Remus' fingers were sweaty with anticipation on the plastic of the black ink pen.

"You mean the one where I try pointlessly to teach you the necessities to stay alive in such a cruel environment?" Sirius asked dryly, lying on his back and speaking to the ceiling.

Remus turned around in the desk chair again, face faintly flushed.

"I've been doing just fine by myself," Remus snapped in his own defense.

"Until you met the lot that gave you the marks on your face," Sirius said with narrowed eyes as he raised his head to look at Remus.

Remus turned back around to face the desk top and his blank paper. He bent his head low and scribbled furiously with the pen in defiance to what Sirius was saying. Sirius sighed, threw his legs over the edge of the bed, and stood up. He leaned over Remus' shoulder and snatched the pen out of his hand.

"Hey—" Remus protested loudly and spun around sharply, near upsetting the chair. Sirius pressed a firm finger over his lips.

"Stop acting childish." Remus' eyes hardened but he did not attempt to speak. "Now, c'mon. We'll practice in the living room."

Sirius pulled back and left his bedroom without another word. Remus sighed, stuffed the unused writing utensils into the empty topmost drawer. Just as he was closing the drawer, a glint of metal caught the corner of his eye and made him still. With a frown, Remus looked over his shoulder to make sure that he was alone. The room was quiet and seemed empty in more than the obvious way now that Sirius had left it.

Remus reached into the drawer slowly and withdrew his hand quickly with a yelp of pain. Remus shoved his uninjured fist into his mouth to stop himself from making any more noise. He held his forefinger in front of his face and observed the blackened tip.

_Silver. Dammit._

Remus used the pen to poke the silver object out from its hiding place. A delicate ring of great value, judging by the design, stone, and inscription, dangled on the end of the pen. It was too small to fit on any of his professor's fingers.

"Are you coming?" Sirius' voice called from the living room.

Remus jumped and the upset caused the ring to fall off the end of the pen and back into the drawer. He closed it swiftly and silently.

"Yeah just...I'm coming," Remus said loudly as he pressed on the drawer for a last time to make sure it was shut tight. He stood up and left the bedroom, entering the joint living room and kitchen.

All of the furniture that he had walked past to get to the bedroom earlier had disappeared, leaving a nice spread of carpet that would work rather nicely for the two of them.

"Alright, so let's get started. What do you know?"

Remus hesitated before shrugging.

"You don't know?"

Remus half nodded and avoided Sirius' gray eyes as they narrowed.

"Nothing?"

Remus didn't respond. Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Right then. We'll just start at the beginning."

Remus didn't protest nor did he interrupt his professor as Sirius explained the three basics.

"Never pull the first move no matter what it might be. This is defense. Keep alert and always on the balls of your feet. Never keep your eyes fixed on one point. You may be watching your opponent's left fist when you should really be watching his right. Got all that?"

Remus nodded.

"Alright. But that's the easy part. Anyone can say what they'd do in a situation. It's a completely different thing when you're put to the practical test. So, let's give it a try."

Sirius stepped forward, but Remus stayed firmly rooted where he was. Sirius rose one dark eyebrow in question.

"Well?"

"I'm not too sure about this."

"It was your idea, was it not?"

"Yeah, but..." his voice trailed off at Sirius' sharp glare.

Remus stepped closer to his teacher warily, expecting to be surprised. He was more surprised by the fact that Sirius talked and walked him through the first few procedures rather than jump him and expect him to react. Remus felt as if he were walking on thin ice as he tentatively did as he was told to do. An hour into his detention, however, Remus started to retreat to his old ways of dodging around Sirius as he tried to teach and explain.

"Do you want to learn or not?" Sirius yelled as he lunged for purchase around Remus' wrist.

"I'm trying," Remus snapped as he darted just out of Sirius' reach.

Sirius snorted and lunged again. His fingers grazed over the skin of Remus' forearm.

"No you're not," Sirius hissed back, finally grabbing onto Remus' shirt and yanking him back.

"I am, okay?" Remus snarled, back stepping rapidly.

Sirius held on tightly and moved with him. Remus' back hit the wall behind him. His eyes widened and Sirius took advantage of Remus' moment of stillness to transfer his grip from this sleeve to a firmer one on Remus' wrist.

Remus screamed when Sirius forced it above his head and kicked violently. Sirius let go quickly and nearly jumped back to avoid being kicked in the stomach. His gray eyes watched as Remus scrambled even further down the wall and away from him. Remus' eyes were wide in panic and his thin frame shook slightly.

"Are we done?" He asked quietly with a remarkably calm voice.

Sirius dragged his eyes away from Remus' quivering, clenched fist and looked him in the eye. Remus averted his own eyes quickly and crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

"I'll take you back to your dorm room. Same time and place on Thursday," Sirius said as he jerked his gaze away from his student and swiftly went to the door that opened up into the dimly lit corridor beyond it.

Remus followed two dozen steps behind his teacher, keeping a careful watch on his back. He really wished that he had the wand that the school kept barred from him until graduation as some sort of motivation.

_Only five more months and I swear I'll never leave it behind, _Remus thought as Sirius unlocked the door to his room, held it open, and stepped back. Remus' wary eyes never left the other man's face as he darted past him and into the darkened room. Sirius sighed as he relocked it and headed back to his own quarters.

–


	12. Chapter 12

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Remus was ten minutes late for his second detention with professor Black on Thursday. He opened the door leading to Sirius' personal rooms quietly and slipped inside. He leaned back against the door and surveyed the empty kitchen and living room.

"Sir?" He called softly, not daring to take another step further into the private quarters.

Sirius, who had been convinced that Remus was not going to show, muttered a quick goodbye to James on the other side of the mirror and crammed it into the topmost drawer on his nightstand. He climbed off of his unmade bed and walked out into the living room.

"Well, decided to show, did you?" Sirius asked with a voice lacking the spite he had planned as he leaned lazily in the doorway.

Remus nodded to the tan carpeted floor. Sirius began to clear the room of its furniture when Remus' voice caused him to stop.

"Sir, there's no need for that."

Sirius sighed as he finished clearing the room and stuck his wand in his pocket.

"We need somewhere to work, don't we?"

"The desk will do fine, sir."

"Stop that," Sirius snapped, rounding fully from the living room to face Remus. "Stop calling me sir all the time."

He got his first real look at Remus then, of Remus standing by the door clutching a thin paged notebook protectively to his chest with somber eyes.

"What's that? A diary?"

"No, sir." Sirius gritted his teeth together. "It's for my lines."

"Lines? What are you going on about—"

"The lines that I will be writing for my detention tonight," Remus said in a quiet voice that left no room for argument.

"Fine," Sirius snarled impatiently, bringing the furniture back to full size and set it in the room with one aggravated wave of his wand. "I will not come late to my detention and then go about demanding things like an arrogant little asshole. One thousand times."

"Not arrogant, sir," Remus said as he settled down in one of the armchairs and opened his notebook to the first blank page.

"I'll be in my room if you need me," Sirius said, standing in the doorway that connected living room to bedroom and desperately wanting to get away from his quiet mannered student that just had that way of driving him mad. He waited for an answer that did not come.

Remus was silent as his hand scrawled across the paper, leaving a neat spread of ink in its wake. Sirius cleared his throat loudly.

"There will be no need for me to disturb you, sir. I think I can manage lines without any assistance," Remus said after he had finished his sentence. He looked it over carefully before looking up, only to find that the doorway was empty and that the door to Sirius' bedroom was closed.

–

Sirius gritted his teeth in anger and knotted a fist in his hair. He stormed over to the ice cooler that he kept in his room for just such occasions, and kicked the top of it off. He swore and bent to straighten it. When he laid his careless hands on it, the cooler tipped and fell on its side, spilling cold bottles across the floor.

"_Dammit,_" Sirius hissed under his breath. He swiped the loose cans into the blue cooler and slammed an aluminum can down on his nightstand. He flicked his wand to open the can on his nightstand, which caused the tab to snap off and bounce off the ceiling, and collapsed onto his bed.

In the living room, Remus had stopped writing. His heart was hammering inside of his ribcage as he watched the door with wide eyes, hoping that it would not open.

Sirius took one deep breath and then let it out slowly. He grabbed the beer from the bed side table and relaxed back against the headboard of the king sized bed. He drained half of it in one long gulp. The rest of it was gone in five more minutes with two more sips. He tossed it toward the garbage can that was more or less across from him and missed, not really caring as he summoned another to his awaiting hand.

When he was half way done with his second, he set it down and pulled out the mirror from the tangled mess of his bed side table drawer. He seemed more aware of his senses, ironically enough, more sober and focused.

"James," Sirius said a bit louder than necessary into the mirror.

He waited tapping his fingers against the cool, fingerprinted marred surface of the mirror. A few minutes later, after much shuffling from the other side, James' messy haired head appeared in the mirror.

"Hey, Sirius, what's up?" James asked as he tried to flatten his hair.

"It's hopeless, you know."

"I know, but I've got to leave in ten minutes, so I thought that I'd at least try."

"Leave?" Sirius asked with a sinking feeling.

James nodded.

"Yeah. Work."

"Oh."

James stopped attempting to fix his hair and stared hard at the mirror.

"Do you think you could move a bit? I could really use a mirror. Or a hat," James sighed.

"Sorry."

"Are you okay?" James asked softly, appearing off hand as he cleaned his glasses with the hem of his shirt, his full attention seemingly fully focused on them when both of them clearly knew where it was really focused.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Sirius said quickly, biting his lip afterward and wishing he could turn back the clock and change the manner of his answer.

James sighed as he put his glasses back on and regarded Sirius with an expression that was half amused and half stern.

"Si. Sirius. _Mate_. I'm your best friend. I know when you're not alright. And I know that right now you're not alright."

"How do you know that?"

James half shrugged. "So?"

"So what?"

"Sirius, stop playing stupid and just tell me."

"I—It's this kid, James. This annoying little brat. I can't stand him. He's such a fucking smart ass."

"Sounds like someone I know," James muttered under his breath with the intention that Sirius would hear him.

"Don't you ever compare the two of us again. Do you hear me?" Sirius hissed. "I hate him. The sooner I'm done with this whole mess the better. And then I can get far away from Remus Lupin."

"You need to—"

Just what he needed to do, Sirius never found out, because at that moment, James was interrupted by the slamming of a door.

"Shit, James. I—I'm sorry, but I've got to go. Be good at work. Don't blow anything up. Bye."

"That was only once—" James started before the connection broke.

Sirius set the mirror beside his unfinished can of beer and carefully went to the door and opened it.

"Remus?" He called, only to be greeted with silence and an empty room.

Sirius stepped forward into the living room, and jumped back slightly when his foot found purchase on material that was not carpet.

Sirius looked down and saw the notebook that Remus had brought to write his lines in lying in front of his bedroom door. Remus' neat scrawl spread over five lines.

_I will not come late to my detention and then go about demanding things like an arrogant little asshole._

_I will not come late to my detention and then go about demanding things like an arrogant little asshole._

_I will not come late to my detention and then go about demanding things like an arrogant little asshole._

_I will not come late to my detention and then go about_

Sirius picked up the notebook, silently rereading the written print, and sat down in the armchair that Remus had vacated.

–

A session of three sharp knocks sounded on the door to Sirius rooms five days later.

Under the pounding hot water from the shower head, Sirius frowned. He groped in his blindness for the faucets and turned all three of them off. He wiped his face off and stuck his head just out of the shower curtain to listen intently to the sound.

Sirius frowned, preparing to turn the knobs back on and let his shower resume, when the trio of knocks came again. He swore under his breath and stumbled out of the shower, nearly slipping on the tiled floor. He wrapped the towel hanging over the bar around his waist rather haphazardly as he crossed from the bathroom into his bedroom and at last into the small living room quickly.

Sirius' eye caught sight of the clock in the kitchen as he put his hand on the door knob.

_That had better not be Remus showing up for a detention, _Sirius thought before he opened the door and pulled his towel up at the same time.

"Remus, right now's not a good..." Sirius trailed off when he saw that the Remus look alike was at the same eye level as himself rather than the usual two heads shorter.

"Mr. Black," John greeted coolly with a slight nod of his head.

"Mr...Lupin...I...Wasn't expecting..."

"No, I suppose you were not," John Lupin said as he let himself in past Sirius.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" He asked slowly as he shut the door and turned to watch as John seated himself in the same armchair that his son had sat in during their last detention together.

"No, but you can certainly help yourself by making yourself decent," John said, nodding toward the slipping towel around Sirius' waist.

Sirius' hand gripped at his towel tightly as he fled the living room for his own bedroom. John's eyes traveled slowly to the shut door that he assumed lead into the young teacher's bedroom. His gaze traveled over the door and fixed firmly on the clock in the kitchen. He watched patiently as ten minutes ticked away slowly.

Sirius' reflection scowled back at him from the bathroom mirror.

_What is this? A date? _Sirius thought with a snort as he carefully dried his hair with a few straight, vertical swipes of his wand. _Who the hell am I trying to impress?_

He straightened up and gave his appearance a final look over before pulling on the tee shirt that was crumpled on top of the closed toilet seat. Sirius struggled into it as he left the bathroom and walked across his bedroom to the door.

With his hand on the knob, Sirius swore quietly, spun away from the door and tore his shirt off over his head in one smooth motion. It crumpled to the floor as he ran to the wardrobe and tore through the back of it to unearth a rarely worn, professional looking button down.

He did it up quickly, fingers slipping momentarily on the small buttons, and had to redo the third to last button when it ended up in the second to last hole. Sirius darted back over to the door, smoothed out his shirt and hair and let himself into the living room.

John's eyes were still fixed firmly on the faithfully ticking clock. Sirius felt a sudden and unexplainable bout of nervousness as he stood in front of the closed door to his bedroom. It gave him a feeling of being trapped. John slowly moved his gaze to Sirius. He made no comment on the absurd amount of time that it had taken Sirius to make himself presentable.

"Drink? Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, thank you," John said coolly and Sirius had to fight the urge to visibly squirm.

"Do you want...Anything?"

"Why don't you take a seat, Sirius?" John waved vaguely to the couch across from him.

Sirius didn't comment as he numbly complied without complaint. He didn't care to be asked to sit down in his own living room.

"What brings you here, Mr. Lupin?"

"I thought a little chat would be in order between you and I."

"A chat."

John sighed heavily as he reclined in his armchair. "Do you recall what I said to you the last time we had the opportunity to talk?"

"We said a lot of things," Sirius muttered.

"That we did, but I am referring to one thing in particular. One thing. In. _Particular._"

"I have no idea what _particular _incident you are talking about, I'm afraid," Sirius answered coldly, regaining part of his composure.

John leaned forward sharply, his eyes blazing with anger.

"I told you not to hurt him, Black. I warned you not to," John growled. "And here you go and do just that. You hurt him. You hurt him _bad_."

"I hardly did anything to the little—You have no right to talk to me like that. You are in my home."

"I warned you, Black. I gave you fair game, so therefore, I have every damn right imaginable."

"I don't—"

"You don't get it, is what you don't get. That boy sees you as a mentor, he likes you—"

"Well, he has a horrible way of showing it," Sirius snapped.

"That's because he never _has _before. You're the first outside of myself that he has ever taken a liking to."

"Why me? We don't even get along. Why couldn't he pick someone else to burden?" Sirius spat as he got to his feet and stormed into his tiny attached kitchen to busy his hands with something in distraction.

The cabinet doors banged open as he pulled out a glass and filled it at the sink just to give his hands something to do. He whirled around, glass in hand and a fist collided painfully with the side of his face.

Sirius staggered backwards against the sink half in shock and half in pain. The glass slipped from his fingers and smashed on the hard floor. Cold water soaked the bottom of his pant legs and his socks. Small shreds of glass glinted on the floor. His mind had just started to process what had happened when a second blow caught him below the ribs on his right side.

Sirius physically felt the air flee his lungs in one swift pull. He doubled over with a whimper of pain and was saved a fall to his knees when John lifted him by the his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"Don't you ever. Ever. Call my son a burden again. Clear?" John growled quietly.

Sirius nodded against the hand at his throat.

"You owe him an apology and two more detentions, if I am not mistaken?" John asked as he swept away from Sirius and headed for the door.

With the restraining hand gone, Sirius slumped forward, his knees bucked beneath him and he crumpled down to the ground. The smaller pieces of glass were ground into fine dust under his weight while some of the larger ones cut at the material of his clothing and skin. Sirius moaned and rubbed at his ribs.

"It was a nice effort," John said, his head appearing around the half wall that separated the two living areas and nodded to Sirius' clothes. "But I'm afraid that my first impression was ruined when I met you drunk in a bar. Good night to you, Mr. Black," John said curtly as he turned and left.

The door shut behind him and Sirius lifted himself on slightly shaking legs, dusted himself off, and cleaned himself and his kitchen up.

–


	13. Chapter 13

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Sirius scowled at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Four days after his visit with John Lupin had left him with a faint, yellowing bruise on the side of his face and the occasional dull ache in the location of his lower rib cage. He pressed the tip of his finger to the visible bruise hard and winced when it still stung.

"Dammit," Sirius muttered as he concealed the blemishing mark with a tap from his wand.

He sighed heavily, bent his head down and away from the accusing gaze of his mirror twin. Dark, raven hair cascaded loosely around his shoulders and fell into gray eyes. He braced his hands on either side of the simple white sink and took a deep breath.

"My mother's terribly ill...Must be off to see her," he muttered and not a moment later shook his head in disapproval. "My...Grandmother?" He questioned and looked up slightly at his reflection.

It offered neither sympathy nor help.

"No. No, nothing like that. Urgent business?"

Sirius groaned in protest and was starting to just consider breaking his leg in order to get out of the whole mess.

Stonegate Academy had endured the full moon's of September, October, November, and December. Tonight would be the night of the January full moon.

As a member of the staff, he was expected to help escort the students to the lower holding chambers. The first three months they hadn't asked him for his help because he was the _new guy _at work.

When December had come along, he'd been asked to give assistance. Sirius knew that it would be quite the task. The students would get to the point where, for the three days before the moon, they would not be allowed to attend classes, denied food in slim hopes to stem their energy, and kept separated.

Sirius has been lucky enough to worm his way out of the December moon by claiming that he had already booked a holiday vacation for the very same week that he would be needed. The other staff members had allowed him to leave, although not without the long held and long lasting grudge.

Now, try as he might, Sirius could not see any way for him to avoid another moon. He would have no choice, as he had suspected in the sinking pit of his stomach all along.

He would be bracing the full moon alongside his students.

Sirius sighed in resigned defeat and glanced at the clock in the mirror's reflection. It read five past four. He didn't need to leave until five.

_At least I've got time, _he thought wearily and ran his hands through his dark hair. Sirius straightened up.

Just as he had almost cleared the threshold of the bathroom door, he turned sharply on his heel.

_That can't be right. Just can't be right._

Sirius stood, transfixed in horror, gaping at the small clock in the bathroom. It read five till five.

_What the..._

Sirius' eye caught sight of the mirror when he realized that he had read it backwards.

"Shit."

He sprinted quickly out of his rooms and made his way for the holding room off of the first floor where the students waited until they were led away. Sirius slowed to a walk outside of the double doors, his chest heaving slightly, and was relieved to hear the noise coming from the other side of the door.

_At least I know that I'm not late, _he thought, secretly wishing for nothing more than to be far away from the room of raging werewolves. Perhaps sprawled on his bed with a cold one and thinking about his next detention with Remus.

Sirius shook his head absently.

Planning his next _lesson_.

"Black," the ever present, white faced headmaster greeted him sharply. "You're late."

Sirius grinned slightly and tried to ignore the growls and snarls that were coming from still human mouths all around him.

"Sorry."

A thin lipped Wilton, looking out of place without his customary suit, gave him a curt, jerky nod and turned back to the student body.

Sirius wasn't sure what to expect when the doors were eased open and the students were warily ushered through them by about ten adults.

They all surged at the doors as one giant mass. The ones in the front were pushed violently over the threshold by the vigorous ones near rioting in the back. Two boys collided rather painfully as they both attempted to shove through the doorway at the same time. A fight quickly broke out, fought mostly with nothing bared teeth. Blood dripped in shallow puddles on the floor.

Sirius stalled from his position shepherding the over excited and frightened werewolves from the back and watched with a sickly turning stomach as the puddles spread and the noise volume increased to an unbelievable level. The rest of the group was becoming incredibly engaged by the high level of activity.

More senseless quarrels broke out amongst the students.

At a loss of what to do, Sirius pulled a pair of fighting boys apart that were closest to him. They collided again as he moved on, shouting near hysterically and not really knowing what was going on nor what to do. Blood pooled onto his hands.

All around him, he could see Wilton and other members of the staff breaking up fights as well. One teacher was pulling a student off of another teacher. He watched in horror out of the corner of his eye.

As a familiar voice met his ears, he turned and watched a sobbing and clawing Remus as he was pulled off of another equally struggling boy by two teachers. They let go of his arms and rushed to break up more of the out of control mass. Remus did not seek to engage with his opponent again. Remus stumbled backwards, leaning heavily on the wall for support. His chest heaved slightly with forced breathing.

A loud crashing noise made Sirius' attention turn from Remus to the head of the crowd. He stopped in mid stride as he started toward Remus and his head whipped over his shoulder. His mouth opened in a horrified expression as he rubbed gently at the back of his neck.

One of the large doors had parted from its hinges and had fallen to the floor. The wider threshold space made the students forget about their mindless brawls and they poured through the doors.

Sirius came back to himself as another, fever warm body collided with his. He came face to face with Remus' unusually feral eyes.

"Excuse me."

His voice was husky and his teeth snapped down on his lower lip slightly. Sirius watched, frozen, as the boy half walked and was half pushed through the door. He shook his head and waited for the last few to trail out of the door.

The large room was lined with small cages with narrow aisle ways between them. Fingers groped through the bars of the cages and their faces twisted into terrible positions of pain and agony. They reached out to Sirius as he paced up and down the aisle.

He checked and rechecked the locks and enchantments on the bars of the cages. He remembered with a sick sense of humor how the amusement park attendants would do the same to guarantee the safety of the passengers.

_Safety of the operators_, Sirius thought vaguely as he tugged on the lock of another door as he walked. It held firm and he continued on his way.

Sirius reached the end of his assigned aisle, turned and went back down it. He went on tugging on locks and casting mute spells when needed and reinforcement charms on the scratched bars as he walked.

He walked with the hair on the back of his neck on end in terror and a metallic taste pooled in his mouth. His elbows were pressed in close to his side and hot, excited, and frightened breath washed over the bare skin of his arms and face.

Sirius reached the end again, now turning and checking and rechecking locks automatically without any real thought process.

As he started down for the fifth time, the panting and moaning around him changed to a thick and uneasy silence that, so that at first, he did not recognized it for what it was. The new sense of quiet startled him. He turned his head slowly over his shoulder.

In the very last cell on the right side of the row, the occupant lay curled up on the floor, convulsing violently. All of the other eyes of those on his row were fixed on him. The student thrashed against the bars of the cage and began to scream as the rising of the full moon caused the beginning of the transformation.

Sirius turned back and began to walk with a brisker pace. On either side of him, others convulsed and screamed and fell.

He started to jog.

Claws scraped at the cement floor, fur bristled, ears lengthened and pointed.

Sirius moved faster. Fangs pierced bottom lips and split them. Howls echoed.

Sirius ran.

He ran fast, mindful of his elbows and the rest of his body and just how close he really was. He threw himself at the door at the end of his aisle and opened it. He stumbled out of the large chamber with a pounding heart.

The other teachers and staff members scattered about the bare room looked up at him in surprise. They had deserted their posts five minutes ago.

"And here we thought you'd been eaten."

The white faced teachers exchanged weak and nervous laughs that died quickly. Sirius, lips tight, and face emotionless, didn't offer a response. The impromptu laughter stopped echoing and the only noise was the vicious sounds from the wolves in the other room.

"We take shifts," Wilton explained awkwardly.

"I'll take the first than, shall I?" Sirius asked as he settled down into one of the two chairs, the only objects in the room.

He watched as the rest of the staff headed for the opposite side of the room to the door, relieved, without any sort of argument. Sirius supposed that it was not often that they had a volunteer. He tapped the fingers of his right hand absently on the thigh of his leg.

"Someone will be down in two hours. Do you...Want anything to read?" Wilton asked from the head of the line at the door, all body language suggesting that all he really wanted to do was bolt from the bare room with the horrible noises just beyond the door.

"I'm quite all right. Besides, I got the impression that I am supposed to be keeping an eye on the students."

Wilton shot him a short lived glare before a maddening howl and sickening crack broke his eye contact with Sirius. His steady feet left the ground briefly as he jumped and his head snapped around to the bolted door where all of the noise was coming from. Sirius' eyes subtly shifted from Wilton to the barred door as his shoulders relaxed from their previously tensed position.

"I'll have plenty of company," he murmured to Wilton's back as he left and the last professor out shut the door without a glance back at him.

Sirius watched his fingers idly as he traced erratic patterns into the wood grain on the arm of his chair with his bitten fingernails.

_Plenty of company and plenty of time to think_, he thought as he pulled out the small notebook to look over once more for the umpteenth time.

Over his stay at Stonegate, its pages had become fuller and more extensive. Through careful observations he was allowed to learn even more about his potential targets and yet...And yet...

"And yet I'm still no closer than when I started," Sirius growled as he ripped the corner of an unused page. "I'm still not closer. I haven't made any progress."

He flipped angrily through the pages to the front and ignored the wolves the best he could. Each boy now had his own detailed page and a shady sketch in the upper corner.

_None of the information that I have_, Sirius thought irritability. _Is of any use to me. Quarry can't tell me anything else and I'm at a dead end. I'm not getting anywhere._

His fingers clenched the notebook tightly and the angry voices came to a soulful crescendo.

"I'm not getting fucking anywhere!" He yelled and threw the notebook across the room.

It hit the wall beside the door to the werewolf holding chamber and landed on its spine. It fell open somewhere roughly in the middle.

Chest heaving at how frustrated and how relieved he felt, Sirius stood up, leaning back with his hands still on the arms of the chair. He pulled himself up straight and started for the door with wild eyes. He pushed back the heavy iron bar that slid horizontally across the door and opened it.

The volume increased in intensity and in reality. No longer was it muffled behind the door. Sirius walked unflinchingly between the cages. Mad eyes stared at him from behind every bared cage. Muzzles flecked with rope like foam snapped at the bars and struggled to get at him. Long claws and teeth snapped dangerously close to his elbows.

Sirius looked at each cage and each wolf carefully as he walked the narrow aisle.

"Which one of you is it?" He muttered mostly to himself but also partly to them as the wolves shrieked loudly. He walked in silence to the end of the row with his head down in thought.

When he reached the end of the row he pivoted sharply on his heel, his face transformed into a horrible, half mad mask.

"Which one of you little fuckers is it?" He screamed in a raw voice.

The wolves screamed back at him, delighted.

"_Which one?_" He stalked back down the rows quickly with twitchy movements as his head whipped from side to side to examine each cages' occupant.

"_Who?_"

When Sirius reached the end, he crossed over to the next aisle and started up it with the same mad stare and interrogation on his lips. Inside each of the cages, the floor flooded with small rivers of blood as sharp teeth and claws tore at soft skin in desperation. The black, wet skin of twitching noses split as they collided into the bars.

"Which one of you knows the truth?" He near sobbed as he reached the end of the last row and clutched at the bars of the cage as he slid slowly to the floor.

Sirius was brought harshly screaming back into reality when the claws of the wolf held inside of the cage tore at his hands and wrists. The teeth snapped just out of reach, the bars were too small to allow for them.

Sirius snatched his bleeding hands away, the sliced skin stretched painfully, and held them tight against his chest. Moisture welled at the corners of his eyes. He forced himself up as the wolves became even more frenzied at the sent of free flowing human blood. He hurried quickly down the aisle in complete silence and through the door.

Sirius slid the iron cross bar firmly back into place with his elbows and slid down the wall next to his notebook. He pulled his knees close to his chest and held his torn and bleeding hands close.

No other staff member came to relieve him of his shift for the night. In the morning, when the sun had risen and most of the shivering or unconscious students were laying huddled in the corners of their cages, Sirius left quickly.

The retrieval staff arrived on an empty room to collect the students.

–


	14. Chapter 14

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

The red rubber ball flew high into the air to a chorus of yells. It hit the back board of the basketball hoop hard. The ball bounced off of the back board and flew toward the center of the gym.

A slender boy of about fourteen leaped high and caught it. His feet hit the floor and he took off running fast as his team mates egged him on. He collided head on with another boy running to first base. They fell and skidded across the floor. When they came to a stop, the one with the ball straddled the younger boy.

"You're out you little fucker," the older boy with the ball yelled as he slammed it repeatedly into the younger one's face. "I got you. You lost. You fucking lost," he screamed as the two teams circled, jeering at the violence.

Not even the victim's team helped him as he screamed and kicked in fury and panic. The older boy picked his head up by the hair and brought it back down on the floor hard. A sickening crack broke through the crowd's yells.

Remus tried desperately hard to ignore the kick ball game from his corner of the gym as he read. As the intensity grew, he pressed his face closer and closer to the pages and tried to get lost in them. When he heard the crack of his classmate's head, he closed his eyes and pressed his nose against the yellowing pages.

He hated this part of the day. Absolutely hated it. The attendants of Stonegate Academy were always under strict supervision. Whether that supervision be in their classes, in the halls as they were escorted to class, while they ate, or the watchful eyes of the cameras in the dorm rooms and bathrooms, they were never left unwatched.

But since they were so carefully watched, they had no free time to do as they wished. To fix this problem, Stonegate was sorted into three groups. Each group was then assigned a recreational time frame of two hours each day. Recreational time was either inside in the gym, or outside on the lawn with its high walls. They were also carefully supervised during their recreation time.

Remus' assigned group had the six to eight shift. It was a mandatory event that Remus despised and ignored to the best of his abilities. He had no choice but to attend, for strict consequences were taken if the recreational events were not attended.

So Remus found himself, once again, stuck in recreation against his will. To top matters off, Professor Black was assigned to keep watch over them. He was to make sure that nothing serious happened, like what was going on during the kickball game at that very moment.

He glanced slyly over the top of his book as the cheering started to fade away until it spacious room was completely silent. Sirius had the boy who had caught the ball subdued against the wall and was talking to him, low and fast. The crumpled and bleeding body on the floor did not stir. The defense teacher shoved the boy away in disgust and helped the other one up.

Sirius looked him over quickly, absently moving his wand in irritated movements and patterns and then led him to the storage room. He came back out several minutes later and glared at the boys that were still in a loose semi circle. They wandered off back to their kickball game.

Sirius walked away shaking his head and Remus went back to his book. The noise returned, somewhat hesitantly at first, and then more intense as the game fell back into place.

Remus looked up again, only to have his vision obscured by his defense professor. He startled slightly and his book fell closed in his lap.

"What are you reading?"

Remus averted his eyes to the book in his lap and ran his finger along the spine. He spoke while making the most minimal eye contact.

"_Lord of the Flies_."

"Kind of gruesome, isn't it?"

"Not really," Remus said quietly, looking past Sirius to where his classmates were playing kickball.

"Or maybe that kind of thing just turns you on?"

Remus' head snapped up in surprise and he glared with a deep hatred at his professor. Sirius shrugged a single shoulder in response.

"Hey, hey. No need to get all defensive—"

"I'm not being defensive," Remus snapped, looking the taller man straight in the eye as he stood up and turned away.

"Where do you think you're going, huh? You can't leave," Sirius said as he walked a few paces behind his student.

Remus bit his lip and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. He could hear the others in the center of the gym getting louder again.

"Away from you. Leave me alone."

Sirius sighed. "That didn't come out how I wanted it to."

"I should hope not, sir."

"How many times," Sirius ground out between his teeth as he dodged around to Remus' side and slammed his hand into the wall in front of Remus, barring his path.

Remus glared at him and his fingernails dug into the soft cover of his paperback.

"What?"

"Don't call me that."

"Why? That's what we're supposed to call you. You can't possibly expect me to call you _Sirius_, can you? As an equal of sorts?"

"I hate the way it sounds. And yes, I do expect you to. I'm your teacher, whatever I say goes."

"My morals won't allow for it, sir."

"Like you really have any."

Remus stared at him with a hurt look.

"That didn't come out how I wanted it to either."

"Really?" Remus snapped and shoved past him.

"Look, I'm sorry."

"Why are you even talking to me?" Remus asked quietly, stopping short and half turning to face his defense professor.

"Am I not allowed to?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just got the impression that you didn't like to, that's all."

"If I didn't like to, then I wouldn't be. It's as simple as that."

"Alright, then what's the point? I hardly think you wanted to ask me just about my reading material."

"I was actually going to tell you to come by my place at seven tonight."

"Why?" Remus asked suspiciously, turning to fully face his teacher.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you ask way too many questions?"

"Do you still have my notebook?"

"It's not polite to answer a question with a question. I wasn't aware that you still wanted it. I've had it for a while now."

"I was just wondering if I needed to bring something else to write in."

"Why exactly would you be writing?"

"Lines?"

"For?"

"Detention?"

"I wasn't under the impression that I told you that you had a detention."

"Why else would I be coming to your quarters? And I still have—"

Sirius waved the rest of his sentence away with a casual wave of his hand.

"Don't worry about those. Just bring yourself."

Remus paused for a long time in uncertainty.

"Alright," he said quietly, hugging his book tighter against his stomach in a gesture of comfort.

"Time's nearly up," Sirius said as he turned and walked away.

"I don't get you," Remus murmured to his teacher's retreating back as he walked away across the gym floor.

–


	15. Chapter 15

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

The dirty walled hallway was nearly deserted. The hesitant boy at the extreme left door was the only reason why it was not completely deserted. Remus stood on the balls of his feet, biting his lip. His tightly curled fist hovered an inch from the wood of the door.

Remus had left his room at six fifty. He had had to stop and explain to one of the teachers along the way were he was going. They had let him go reluctantly. Now Remus stood nervously in front of the door to Professor Black's quarters.

Remus sighed and dropped his fist.

_What am I doing here? This is so ridiculous_, he thought and turned away dejectedly.

Three doors down, however, Remus started to have second thoughts about leaving.

_It would be rude if I don't show. I mean...he is expecting me. And yet...I don't even think he'll notice if I don't come_.

Remus turned back toward the door and, before he could think about it any further, knocked three times. As soon as his knuckles came away for the third time, Remus was regretting his rash behavior and was half contemplating running.

"Come on in," came the muffled invitation.

Remus clenched his fist by his side and opened the door. He stepped into the small apartment and frowned when his feet stepped on something that make a loud and unpleasant shifting noise. When he looked down, at the same time taking a step backwards, Remus saw the origin of the noise.

Thick, milky plastic coated the entire area of the floor. Dark, watery smudges stained the plastic sheet at random intervals. All of the furniture in the room was missing. Instead, it was replaced by a black and silver motorcycle that leaned on its kickstand in the center of the living room.

"What the..." Remus muttered as his confused eyes took in the room's appearance that looked more like a garage than it did a living room.

"Don't just stand there, pubs. Aren't you coming in?"

Remus was slightly startled when he was addressed by someone that was unseen to him. A quick survey led his eyes to the floor where Sirius was sprawled on his back with his knees lazily crooked so that they pointed at the ceiling. He was laying beside the motorcycle with his hair escaping a quickly constructed tail. Black hair fanned across the plastic or whispered in strands about his face. He held a thin book at arms length away and moved his lips silently as he read.

"Um...Excuse me? Sir?"

"Sirius," the defense professor answered subconsciously.

"What are you doing?"

"Working on my bike. It started out as a simple oil change. Then that turned into the breaks being looked at. And then that somehow turned into a complete wax job and so on," Sirius shrugged awkwardly from his position on the floor as he lowered the thin white book.

"I didn't know you owned a motorcycle."

"It's a pity really," Sirius said with an off hand voice. His tone held an undertone of regret as he spoke. "Ever since I took this job, I just don't seem to have the time like I used to."

"Oh," Remus said uncomfortably, his eyes on his own hand that was twisting the door knob back and forth.

_I wonder if he blames us. Does he despise the rest of them like he does me? Maybe he blames me for everything that doesn't go according to plan or doesn't please him_, Remus thought, longing for the safety of the deserted hall in a world where he hadn't knocked on the door but instead fled back to his dorm room.

Remus left his thoughts for reality only to catch the end of one of his professor's sentences.

"I'm sorry. What?"

Sirius sighed and rolled into a sitting position, the book that Remus now recognized as a manual, in his lap.

"Do you know anything about them?" He jerked his head toward the motorcycle.

Remus shook his head. "Not really. I grew up on dirt bikes when I was younger, but I don't know anything about motorcycles."

"What about a flying motorcycle?"

"That thing can fly?"

"Sure can," Sirius said as he set the manual beside him and stood up. He wiped the grease marks from his hands to his pants and brushed his hair away from his face. His dirty fingers left smudges around his nose, ears, and across his cheeks.

"This one can. I started building it from a bunch of scrap metal when I was seventeen."

"Why?" Remus asked and tried to take a careful step into the room. The plastic crackled underneath his feet and Remus had to grit his teeth together as he stepped back into the hallway.

"Needed something to keep me out of trouble."

"Did it work?"

"A bit. Not really," Sirius spoke with a deep set frown as he noticed the stains on his pants and those on his face.

He walked about to the other side of the bike and snatched the towel that he had previously laid out for cleaning up such messes. When he looked up, Remus was still in the doorway. He had his eyes shut and his fingers were curled into tight fists.

"You okay?" Sirius asked, hanging the towel over one of the bike's handle bars and taking a step toward the doorway.

"Yeah. Just stop. Moving," Remus said with a tense voice. His eyes were still shut.

"What is it?"

"That noise. I can't stand it. It hurts," he rubbed at the skin behind his ears.

"So you're just going to stand out there?"

Remus opened one of his eyes by a fraction of an inch and regarded Sirius wearily.

"I...don't know."

"Then let me help you decide."

Remus' eye lid slid swiftly closed again. The second time he opened his eyes was in surprise as he felt his feet leave the ground. He was too busy with the pounding in his head to offer more than a weak protest.

Sirius grabbed a chair out of the kitchen and dragged it into the living room. He arranged it next to the bike and shifted Remus from his shoulder to the chair. Remus relinquished his death grip on his professor's shoulder and rubbed circles about his ears.

"You are odd," Sirius muttered as he went back to the open door and closed it quietly. Remus didn't reopen his eyes until Sirius was back across the room and inspecting the work on his bike.

Remus studied the motorcycle at the new, closer distance.

"Why up here?"

"Where else do I have to work?" Sirius shrugged. "So, why are you here?"

Remus' head snapped up in both surprise and alarm. "You told me—"

"You wouldn't have come if you hadn't wanted to."

"But you said—"

"I took you as a smart boy, Remus. I thought you'd be able to discern an invite from a command."

"Don't insult my intelligence," Remus muttered as he tucked his legs beneath himself so that they would be further away from the plastic sheet.

"Just saying," Sirius said as he picked up his scattered tools and supplies.

"Well, that arises a whole other question, now doesn't it?"

"What question is that?"

"Why did you invite me to your quarters, sir?"

Crouched down with his fingers half extended for a discarded wrench, Sirius paused.

"Honestly?"

Remus nodded.

"I didn't expect you to show up," Sirius responded, picking up the tool and standing up.

Remus thought back to the moments before he had knocked on the door to Sirius' quarters and had thus sealed his future of sitting in the middle of the small living room on an uncomfortable chair. He thought about how close he had been to not showing up.

"You really surprised me by showing up," Sirius finished, breaking Remus away from his train of thought.

"You don't look surprised."

"Some say I do well at hiding my emotions."

Remus sighed quietly and averted his eyes to better hide his confusion.

"Can I take a guess at why you're here?" Sirius asked, glancing in the side mirror at Remus' reflection. When he did not answer, Sirius continued. "Company, perhaps."

"Perhaps," Remus muttered unwillingly.

"Or...maybe you're here because you wished to continue with your lessons."

"My...I thought those were detentions."

"And I thought that you wouldn't come unless you thought that they were. You seem to have proven my little theory wrong, however."

"Wrong?" Remus asked, looking up for the first time. Sirius' turned back was to him.

"You are here aren't you?" Sirius responded quietly, running his thumb over the body of the bike in broad strokes.

"I guess."

A full minute of silence blanketed the room, during which Remus averted his eyes back to the plastic covered floor and Sirius looked away from the mirror where he had watched his student's reactions throughout the entire conversation.

"So, which is it?"

Remus took a moment to pause before answering, more trying to decide on telling the truth than actually thinking.

"It seems to me as if we have accomplished the company part of your intentions; why not move onto the other part? Lessons?" Sirius said quietly.

Remus bit his lip and looked down at the plastic sheet wearily. The irritating sound it made when disturbed really did drive him crazy and hurt his ears.

"After we've cleaned up, of course."

"Why is it so important to you?"

"To me? Isn't it important to you? You're the one who's always going on about how important the art of self defense is."

Remus forced himself off of the chair and to the other end of the room. His careful steps were measured and his jaw was set tightly. He pivoted slowly once at the other end of the room to face his professor.

_Is it really that important to me? Just how important is it?_

"I'll help you clean up," Remus muttered when he decided that it was not that important to him but couldn't hurt to learn something new either.

"Only if I know that you're really serious about it this time," Sirius said, shrinking his well taken care of bike and setting it atop the mantel so that it appeared to be no more than an extremely detailed model.

"Best do this before I change my mind, then."

"Oh, you won't," Sirius spoke confidently as he placed all of his supplies, also miniaturized, beside his motorcycle on the mantel.

Remus frowned but knelt down to begin to roll up the sheet just the same. The stiff plastic creaked and shifted under the pressure of his manipulating hands. With tense fingers, he began to crease the sheet and roll it neatly.

Sirius half turned at the noise.

"I might change my mind."

"I already told you that you won't."

"Is that a threat of force, professor?" Remus asked, grateful for the opportunity to pause in his work and glanced up at Sirius.

"There is this great philosophy," Sirius sighed, sitting down in the chair that Remus had vacated. "That states 'we learn what we want to learn.' Now that I am not forcing you, your being here is proof enough of that, you have finally decided it might be useful if you learn how to defend yourself. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"That's a philosophy?" Remus asked, removing his hands from the plastic and sitting comfortably on the floor.

"Hard to imagine that some genius came up with that one, huh?" He said with a small smile, finally taking pity on the younger boy and vanishing the smudged tarp with a casual flick of his wand.

Remus rocked back violently in surprise and nearly fell over. A soft blush began to creep up to embrace his face. "I could have done it."

Sirius shrugged. "No need to save it. I was going to throw it out anyway. It's just easier to vanish it, right?"

Remus looked down at his hands for a moment before standing up.

"Right. It's just easier that way."

"Would you like something to drink before we get started?"

"Sure," Remus answered, feeling uncomfortable standing in the middle of his defense professor's living room.

"All I have is coffee. I hope you like it black," Sirius said as he entered the small kitchen and pulled the old coffee filter out of the pot and threw it away. He placed a fresh one into the coffee maker and went to get two mugs out of the cabinet.

"Water?"

"If you want it, sure. Never been a personal favorite of mine, but go ahead and knock yourself out," Sirius shrugged, setting a tall and scratched glass on the counter.

"Thanks," Remus muttered, dragging the cup across the counter top and tracing his finger around the dry rim.

"What are you being so quiet for? Something I said?"

Remus shrugged. "I…they don't teach us any practical magic here—too dangerous," he said bitterly. "It's all theory work. I know how to vanish that stupid sheet in theory but…I can't actually do it."

"I could never imagine having gone to Hogwarts without real magic."

"You'll never have to. I…my dad showed me how to do some simple stuff…but he only went until his fifth year so his knowledge is pretty limited. And I don't want to try anything by myself. If something were to go wrong…" Remus trailed off and dug his fingernails into his palms. "I wish I would have been able to just…vanish it."

"I didn't realize it was such a sensitive subject."

"That's not it. It's just," Remus trailed off again and set the untouched glass back on the counter. "I think your theory about learning just found an exception."

Sirius looked up from putting the coffee pot back in its base slightly confused. The look on his face quickly changed to one of understanding as he lifted the coffee mug to his lips and drank from it.

"Why's that?" Sirius asked when he lowered it.

"Because I'm already having second thoughts about these lessons."

"That doesn't mean anything," Sirius said after his second drink. He lowered the mug to the counter top where it made a soft noise upon impact with the hard surface. He preceded out of the kitchen and into the living room. "Just means that it's not a sure decision yet. But since you are here and I did not have to drag you, that means you do want this."

"It's not that I really want it or anything like that," Remus sighed, leaving the safety of the small kitchen and striding to stand across from his professor. "It just might be useful for something."

"So not complete pubs then?"

"Well," Remus thought carefully about his answer and looked up at his defense professor's face for ideas as to how to word what he meant clearly. The smirk playing on Sirius' lips ended all train of thought. Remus' brow furrowed and he lunged to wipe the smirk from the others face.

"Bit slow," Sirius shook his head in disappointment as he barely maneuvered around his student's unexpected move. He shrugged and spun Remus around with a hand on the back of his neck. "But of course, that's why we're here. To learn."

Remus ducked under his arm and pulled back. Sirius was slightly taken aback and surprised to see a spark that was foreign to him in Remus' eyes.

"Let's get started."

Remus didn't answer but instead remained silent and gave Sirius the same rapt attention that he focused with on his other studies.

_I'll show him. I can do his stupid class._

The new behavior that Remus was displaying delighted Sirius and made him cautious all at the same time. Although he had never experienced it himself, he had heard from other staff members how attentive the boy could be when he really got down to it. They started all the way back at the basics, which, Sirius discovered, was just about all that Remus had a general idea about, mostly from the other informal sessions that Remus had only attended because he had been forced to. Remus picked it up quick and Sirius was also quick to learn just how efficient his student was.

At times, when Sirius was satisfied and ready to move on, Remus would insist on a little more time. Within ten minutes, Remus would have a whole routine down to near perfection when Sirius had been ready to move on.

During the lesson, Sirius couldn't help but feel mad at Remus. The boy was performing so wonderfully, and although bits and pieces still needed work, he was turning out to be a more patient and cooperative student than most of those in his other classes. The anger, however, was obscured by the concentration that Remus forced him to steadily maintain.

In the three hours that they worked on the session, they paused for a break once. More for Sirius' benefit than for Remus' own.

"Alright," Sirius panted lightly and sat down on the ground. Remus pulled the straight backed, wooden chair over by him and also sat down. "You can slow down, you know? This isn't between life or death or anything."

"I know. I just…got into it, I guess," Remus said apologetically. _Told you I don't need this. I can do your stupid class any day._

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Sirius said as he closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"Tell me when you're ready, professor."

"I'm just waiting on you, Rem."

_Rem? What the hell?_

"I think we both know that we're waiting on you. But if it makes you feel better, go ahead and say that we're waiting on me."

"Don't get so cocky. You're in no position."

"In reality, sir, you're the one slumped on the ground, not me."

Sirius opened one irritated eye and glanced up at Remus. The younger boy returned the mock of a smile that had provoked him in the first place.

"Alright, smart ass, let's start round two," Sirius growled and pushed himself up.

"I never said anything, professor," Remus half spat, rising out of his own chair and taking two steps backwards.

"Let's find out how much you've learned," the professor said, swiftly backing his student against the wall and cornering him.

"A lot more if you were a better teacher," Remus responded defensively. His facial expression showed that he was thinking hard about how to get out of his current, uncomfortable situation.

"It's all on you, Remus."

Sirius pinned Remus' wrists to the wall, reveling briefly in the power he felt as all traces of challenge and defiance melted from the younger boy to be replaced with fear. The werewolf's brown eyes widened and he screamed hoarsely. Sirius felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Remus struggled shortly before Sirius loosened his grip and stepped back.

Remus remained pressed into the corner and his breathing became short and harsh. His eyes were on the ground. His hair fell into his eyes and Sirius felt a moment of guilt as he saw his student's hand tremble slightly.

Somewhat having gained control over himself, Remus slowly looked up at his teacher. The look on his face was one of complete horror.

"I really think I've stayed too long. Excuse me."

Sirius stood, motionless and uncertain as Remus crossed to the door.

"Why do you always do that?" Sirius murmured.

Remus froze; back to his professor and fingers grazing over the door knob. He clenched his fingers around it tightly once and then let his fingers return to their feather light grip.

"Do what?"

"Whenever I pin you, you just loose it."

"Wouldn't you?" Remus whispered, warm tears leaking from the corners of his eyes while his fingers clenched the door knob once more.

"I'm not going to hurt you. You must know that much."

"You're rather unpredictable, you know that?"

"I…" Sirius trailed off when he caught the edge on the undertone in his student's voice. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet in contemplation. "Are you crying?"

Remus gritted his teeth together silently. "Do I sound like it?"

Sirius sighed, crossed the room and turned the younger boy around by pulling him by the hand that was wrapped around the door knob.

"You look like it too."

"You won't have to worry about it. I'm leaving."

"Wait."

Remus sighed, let his hand fall from the door again, and half turned to face Sirius. The black haired man could see where he had hastily drug the back of his hand across his face to dry the unwanted tears during the split second his back had been turned.

"What?"

"I…I didn't expect that to actually work," Sirius admitted with a sheepish half grin.

"You're so funny. Just so clever. You never run out of witty things to say do you? Never mind that I'm…upset," Remus responded, new, warm tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Hey, don't. That's not what I meant," Sirius said in the awkward voice of someone who was not used to providing comfort.

"I'm sorry. I…I don't mean to lash out at you like this."

"I can't let you go back like this, okay. Just come sit down for a moment and clam down," Sirius said, half raising his hand to stop a tear from escaping from the corner of Remus' eyes. He thought better of it and instead led Remus over to the chair that the younger boy had occupied shortly before.

"I didn't know you had a conscious."

"You're room mates would eat you alive if you went back like that," Sirius shrugged. _ maybe that too._

"Oh," Remus' half hearted smile faded and he looked fixedly at the ground.

_Smart move, dumb ass, _Sirius thought with a mental slap to his forehead.

Neither knowing what exactly to say, they sat in silence. Remus on the chair while Sirius stood beside it and looked down at the younger boy's bowed head. The tears dried on Remus' face and he made no attempt to wipe the dried trails away.

"It wasn't always pubs to me."

Sirius jumped, slightly surprised by the words that broke the silence and also by the tangent on which Remus started on.

"I would have never known," Sirius responded at length, more out of a need to say something rather than anything else.

"I used to really like defense," Remus spoke softly into his hands. "It was a lot of fun and I did really well."

Sirius reflected on their lesson and reasoned that it was more than possible and probable that Remus would make an excellent defense student. He had all the right characteristics already going for him. When the silence threatened to reign once more, Sirius felt prompted to encourage his student to continue.

"What happened?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "Everything. Nothing."

Sirius frowned. "What kind of an answer is that?"

The moments the words left his mouth, Sirius bit his lip and wished he had put a little more thought behind his words. Remus' reaction was one that surprised him.

"I guess that translates to an 'I don't know.'"

Sirius rolled that over in his mind for a moment and studied Remus' bowed head.

"Is that true?" His question was met with a long period of silence, so that he almost prompted again. Remus gave the slightest shake of his head and buried his head in his hands.

"My first defense professor was very good at his job," Remus mumbled, forcing Sirius to sit on the floor next to him in order to understand him. "But to be honest, he was a total asshole. We were all happy when he left. I had him my first year here."

One of the fingers on Remus' clenched fist slid up to mark the reign and fall of the first defense professor. Sirius watched it while Remus spoke.

"For the next one…he was just a bad person in general. Horrible teacher and an even worse person. He used to smuggle a few of us out every month and take us to illegal fighting rings. He's the reason why the east yard is all locked up. His blood stains the stone fountain in the center."

Sirius cringed slightly when Remus slid the second finger up to accompany the first.

"Don't worry, professor. No one's going to murder you," Remus said in response to Sirius' startle. Remus' tone was void of all humor.

"There was one more before you. His name was Daniel Peters. He was…" Sirius subconsciously leaned forward, the better to catch the third man's crime. "A wonderful teacher and a caring person."

A third finger did not join the other two, but rather Remus clenched his fist tightly. He raised his head and looked straight ahead as if in deep thought. He did not acknowledge his defense professor's presence.

"What happened to him?" Sirius prompted quietly.

"He started in the middle of my fourth year. They were getting really desperate and were willing to hire just about anyone. At the time, they were talking to the Ministry, trying to reason with them. It was around the time when Azkaban was becoming over crowded. Wilton wanted to have one of the inmates sentenced to Azkaban to teach instead of going there. It was working too, the school's plan was beneficial and realistic for both parties."

Remus paused and closed his eyes. Sirius might have thought him asleep if it were not for his posture. Sirius subconsciously thought of the way pure blood children were taught to sit at a young age. His mind started to slip away to darker days when the younger boy's softly spoken words brought him fully back and broke his train of thought.

"The rumors really flew when he showed up," Remus continued, a half sad smile attempting to stretch the corners of his mouth. "Everyone said that the deal had gone through. The man that was supposed to teach us really belonged in Azkaban. We speculated daily about what he must have done. Unthinkable things. We decided that it must have been something unthinkable. But more often than not we made up ridiculous reasons.

"It would surface some two months later that he was a graduate student happy to have a job, not a mass murderer or rapist that had been cheated out of a cell in Azkaban. He was the first in many years that came willingly. And, surprisingly, not as a last resort."

The smile that had previously been on the werewolf's face was gone and his eyes looked somber and resigned once more.

"You are the second."

"Remus."

Remus' eyes opened slowly and his head slowly turned to regard his teacher. His eyes widened slightly in surprise and a subtle blush threatened to color his cheeks.

"Sorry."

"Are you answering my question?"

Remus' eyes darkened slowly. "Every story has a beginning. This is mine."

"I never said anything was wrong with that," Sirius replied quickly. "I was just wondering."

Remus looked back at his hands for a long moment.

"I think I've said too much," he said quietly, but made no attempt or effort to move.

"I don't think you've said enough. If you really thought you've said enough, you're welcome to stop. I don't want to give you the impression that I'm forcing you into anything."

"Has it ever occurred to you that I can't stop? I can't help but feeling that I have to say all of this," Remus snapped, angry at his emotions over Daniel Peters and how they were leaking out from beneath his cool mask.

"Have you ever thought that that's because you _need _to say 'all of this?'" Sirius questioned quietly and was relieved to see the anger and frustration fading out of the werewolf's eyes.

"I was a good student. I always had this…this need to…_impress _him. He was extremely well educated and carried himself well. He was a teacher that you actually told things to. He was a teacher that _everyone _liked. He was a huge surprise to a lot of us. Dan showed up faithfully the following year just as he had told us he would at the end of the previous school year. He became not only a well liked man but also one who received a lot of respect.

"I…I really liked him," Remus whispered his last words so low that Sirius, even at his close proximity, had trouble hearing him.

Sirius felt his heart beat faster as he got his first inkling of where his student's tale was going.

"Have you ever told any of this to anyone else?" Remus shook his head. "Your dad?"

"No."

"No one?"

"By then it was half way through the year. At the closure of that year…I was…in love with him. Not just some stupid crush, but I know now more than ever that I really loved him."

Sirius sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"When the following year came around, I was so afraid that he wouldn't be back again. But there he was, the same as always. Beautiful, perfect, funny Dan. I showed up early on purpose, forgetting about the escort on numerous occasions and landing in some serious trouble. I stayed as late as the escort would tolerate before they started calling. I sat with him whenever I could during meals.

"I already told you that he was extremely intelligent. It didn't take long for him to fit everything together. Dan started telling the escorts that I was staying after with him. Whenever they asked, he just said it was for some extra practice. They accepted that. Remus Lupin. Always wanting to get ahead. Sometimes we would practice. And he'd go out of his way…to touch me. Just a brush here or there…but that was enough. He would come sit by me and he was never short on witty things to say or the slight sexual innuendo that you would miss if you weren't paying attention. I always paid extra attention. I nearly hung onto his every word."

Sirius could only sit in silence and take everything in.

"He…he kissed me," the edges in Remus' voice were slowly coming undone from their previous well mannered, controlled tone. "It…it was so…like everything I thought it would be and more than I expected. He was so gentle."

A single tear crept down the side of his face. Sirius looked away, ashamed at what he had driven the younger boy to and glanced awkwardly around the living room. He felt more than heard as Remus slid from the kitchen chair to sit cross legged in front of it. Sirius could feel the warmth of Remus' thigh as it rested against his.

"God, I…" Remus moaned and buried his head back into his hands. It seemed that the only way he was able to keep the words flowing was to evade eye contact with his listener.

"I was so stupid. I trusted him so much. I thought…" Remus half snorted and shook his head sadly. "I guess that's where I went wrong. I wasn't thinking."

"Love can be a complicated thing," Sirius murmured thoughtfully, toying with the finger where his wedding band should have rested. "If you think too much, it falls apart."

"If you rush into it, it falls apart as well."

"Which way did you decide to take it?"

Remus was quiet for a long moment while he gave a considerate amount of thought to his professor's question.

"Dan was the one making all the decisions. Decisions that I readily agreed to and followed, but he made them all the same."

"What kind of decisions were those?"

Remus sighed and stretched his legs out in front of him. His head left his hands, but he continued to refuse to look at Sirius and instead focused on a fixed spot on the wall.

"They were rushed, not thought out, selfish, childish, immature, and stupid," Remus murmured, his mouth shaping most of the words instead of producing them vocally.

He dragged his hand across his face and rested his head against the seat of the chair. His head rolled almost reluctantly to face Sirius. The black haired man met his gaze straight on even though the over bright eyes made him want to turn away. The hairs on the back of Sirius' neck rose on end.

"Have you ever felt so much…affection for one person before?"

Sirius nodded with a tightly set jaw.

"Has that person ever hurt you before?"

"Yes."

"In what way?"

Sirius blinked twice. "What do you mean?"

"Dan hurt me in every way. Emotionally. Physically—" Remus' voice cut off in a pained choke.

The tears that had been brimming the corners of Remus' eyes spilled again. As soon as he felt the first one wet the pale skin of his face, Remus ripped his head away again, ashamed. When the younger boy's shoulders began to shake slightly from the force of his withheld sobs, Sirius was placed in the awkward and unwanted position of one wanting to comfort yet not knowing how once again.

He moved to place a hand on his student's shoulder, bit his lip and thought the better of it, and lowered it back to his lap helplessly.

Sirius was thankful for the kind of person Remus was when he managed to pull himself together and calm down.

"I'm sorry," Remus said quietly, slowly turning back to face Sirius again.

Sirius shook the apology off with an easy going smile that he put extra effort into so that it appeared to be natural. It worked, and a slow coming, fast fading quirk of a smile flitted across Remus' lips.

"I've just never talked about him like this before. He gets me so worked up."

"That's alright. You can stop if you'd like," the professor offered, hoping that Remus would push onward regardless of his emotional state. It was this type of thinking that made Sirius feel ashamed of himself.

Remus shook his head. "It feels good to tell someone everything."

"It sounds painful to me."

Remus shrugged. "That comes too."

His fingers moved gently over the flesh on his wrist, rubbing softly. Remus' eyes wandered back to the wall and found another fixed spot to become acquainted with.

"I'm just afraid. I guess that's the only way I know how to answer your question."

The flow of the conversation had been in many places, some that seemed off topic to Sirius, and he had to think back to the question that had prompted Remus to talk so much in the first place.

"Why do you always do that?" Sirius murmured unconsciously under his breath when he was able to recall his statement from some hour earlier.

"We never really…went all the way. We messed around a lot. There was a lot of lying around in his bed and a lot of touching and teasing…but we just never _got there_. When I think about it now, there were hints that I'd been too young and inexperienced to decipher, but still…I never felt pressured into anything." Remus' tone had turned to one of pure amazement, remembering days that must have defined happiness.

"Spring break always changes. Depending on what the school decides. That year it was in April. A whole nine days. That was the only break I ever stayed at school for and will be the only one. My dad didn't know about Dan. I didn't want to say anything because of the age difference. He still doesn't know anything because it's all in the past. It has no importance for him to know now.

"Nine days with Dan. I went to him on the morning of the first day and he didn't let me out until the second day that school was back in session. He was chummy with the woman who worked the infirmary at the time. It was no problem for him to get me a signed sick pass."

Remus trailed off and broke his eye contact with the wall. He looked around the room slowly, eyes taking in all of the details of the small, empty living room and the tiny attached kitchen.

"Yours is the same set up as his, just furnished slightly different. Other wise it could very well be Dan's room. But his was two down on the left from where yours is now."

Sirius was taken aback by the eerie calm tone that Remus used to equate their rooms and suddenly found that he didn't want to know what had happened to the brown haired boy sitting beside him any longer.

"By that time, I was just letting myself into his quarters. The man no longer had anything that I hadn't seen before. He was draped over the armchair with a glass of wine on the floor beside him and a dirty magazine propped against his bent knees. I…" Remus broke off with a slight blush.

"Well…he offered drinks and I accepted. The next thing I know, I'm waking bound, gagged, and blindfolded in someone's bed. He must have changed something, because it no longer smelt like his room."

The werewolf broke off again and looked at Sirius. The older man had all of his rapt attention focused on his student. Remus inched closer and buried his head into Sirius' shoulder. He waited tensely and only continued when he was not pushed away in rejection.

"The blindfold came off after a long struggle, but being unable to speak or move comfortably had a large toll on me. There were…footsteps outside the door. I was so afraid of them. Dan…he came into the room with nothing but his expensive black bath robe on. His hair was dripping from a recent shower."

Sirius was glad that tears had no lasting effect as they dripped and stained his tee shirt.

"I was so stupid. Still so trusting. I moved toward him the best I could, happy to see him and knowing that he would untie me and make everything better again. He just…just smiled this cold smile at me and then tightened the rope at my wrists before slipping the blindfold back over my eyes."

Remus closed his eyes against Sirius' shoulder.

"Eleven days. He…for eleven days. Unspeakable things. Things that would have him locked up for two lifetimes if I ever said anything. That was his last year at Stonegate. He didn't come back again and left me thinking that he had only stayed long enough to get what he wanted."

Sirius though about the awful things the younger boy had told him and gently put an arm around his shoulders.

"I'm too trusting. Being here," Remus said, tracing lazy circular patterns into Sirius' other shoulder.

"That just means you're getting better."

Remus' fingers froze in their tracing momentarily before starting again.

"You think so? I never thought about it that way before."

"I think."

"I like that," Remus said around a yawn into Sirius' shoulder.

"What time does your day start, kiddo?"

Remus' eyes slowly slid closed in exhaustion and snapped open once more. It was a painful cycle that Sirius could tell would repeat in a short amount of time.

"Five thirty. Don't call me that."

"Long day," Sirius stated as he carefully eased himself out from under Remus and stood up. The bending bones in his knees cracked in protest and he winced slightly and stretched. "For me too."

Remus looked balefully up at him from the floor.

"I shouldn't have told you any of that. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Sirius sighed and helped his student up from the floor. He leaned his head close to Remus' ear.

"Just because you had one experience doesn't mean the entire world's like that."

Sirius pulled back and was regarded by wide eyes.

"But we're both tired. Some rest is in order."

Remus looked over at the door and seemed to contemplate and despise the apparently long distance.

"You're welcome to stay, if you'd like," Sirius offered, already knowing what the answer would be. Remus shook his head and ambled to the door. He was halfway out of the door when he paused and looked over his shoulder at his professor.

"Sir?"

"Remus."

"You don't hate me, do you?"

Sirius smiled sheepishly. "Not at all. Good night, Remus."

"I'll see you at breakfast."

"If I'm awake."

Remus chanced one last fleeting smile before leaving and closing the door behind him.

–


	16. Chapter 16

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Balancing on the steep roof in the cold of the night brought wakeful awareness to Remus. His senses flared awake and alert as he carefully maneuvered about the slick rooftop. He easily made the light leap between the gap formed where the roof dipped to take a sharp turn. Most of the rooms beneath him now were classrooms rather than empty hallways. He eased around the windows slowly, always making sure that they were clear of any late night patrols.

Remus had to try very hard to keep his mind focused on his footwork, instead of wandering back to think about his evening spent with Professor Black.

_Stop that. I'll have time enough for that when I'm off the damn roof and don't have to worry about breaking my neck, _Remus thought as he stood up from a previous slip that put him off course.

He redirected for a longer, less steep and safer path way to the hallway window near his dorm room. Now treading on flatter ground, he felt slightly assured as he let his mind wander to the depths where his thoughts on his teacher and the evening dwelled. His thoughts soon became unorganized and started to branch off in several different directions on various tangents.

By the time he reached the window that had been his destination the entire time, he had been entertained by thought of Sirius, defense, his dad, Dan, graduation, and sleep. Sleep had seemed like such an open option when he had been in Sirius' quarters, now it seemed far off and distant.

_It's because I felt safe. I felt safe with him, _Remus thought offhandedly and shook the thought away, annoyed.

_No. I was just tired. Anyone would have done the same thing._

Remus searched with his fingers for a moment and finally found the tiny slit in the window that was virtually invisible even when scrutinized from the inside. The window slid up with a moan, which, in the silence of the hallway, seemed deafening. Remus clenched his teeth together in anxiety and climbed through the opening. The window returned to its former resting place with another groan and Remus retreated quickly.

He picked the lock on the utility closet next to the grad boys' dorm room. All of the dorm room doors were locked and could only be opened by obtaining a key. Wilton and all of the staff members had access to such a key. All of the locks were also reinforced with magic which made it impossible to force the dorm doors open.

The utility closets, however, were only locked.

_If they ever caught on…_Remus thought with a slight shiver as the closet door clicked open.

He quickly double checked down both ends of the hallway before slipping inside of the small closet and relocked the door from the inside. Remus moved the stacked buckets and dirty mops and brooms from the back of the closet towards the door. He worked the screws in the vent in the wall loose skillfully and squeezed inside.

_Good thing the only growing I ever did was in height and not width, _Remus thought as he replaced the vent and wiggled his way backward toward his dorm room. He started to slow down after counting out twenty paces. Shortly after, he found the connecting vent that would lead to his door room. More specifically, the connecting vent that would lead right under his bed.

Remus kicked it loose as quietly as he could and slipped through again. Once under his bed, he took the rest of the screws out of his pockets and used them to place the vent back securely in place. He crawled out from under his bed, slipped under the covers and rolled over to face the wall.

Remus pulled the blankets tighter around himself and closed his eyes. Sleep did not come as readily as he wanted it to. He rolled over onto his back and looked at the ceiling. In the night, all he saw was blackness. When the windows were shut for the night it only worked to his advantage by allowing him to slip outside of the dorm room unnoticed. Remus tried closing his eyes again. It did not take him long to realize that sleep would prove to be evasive. His troubled mind was working too fast to allow for sleep.

_What was I thinking? Why did I tell him all of that? _Remus thought as he stretched his arms above his head and folded them behind his head. His eyes drifted closed in relaxation when the startling answer was supplied by his subconscious.

_You trust him. You like him._

Brown eyes snapped open in horrified surprise and his heart started to beat faster.

_Just like Dan._

"No," Remus moaned aloud. His unintentionally verbal answer startled him and his heartbeat picked up a bit more.

_That's why you like him, isn't it? The only reason you like him is because he reminds you of Dan._

Remus whimpered and curled defensively towards the wall. His arms were pressed against his ears, attempting to ward off the voices that only existed inside of his mind. Remus' eyes were shut tightly against the invasion into his subconscious.

_It won't be long now. You already _like _him. It won't be long until you _love _him. Or at least that's what you'll think. It won't be long after that that he'll hurt you._

"Stop it, stop it. That's not true," Remus murmured though clenched teeth. "That's not true."

_Have you a better explanation? Why else did you spill to him like that? What explanation do you have? What would drive you to tell him things you haven't even told your own father?_

Remus pressed his forehead into the wall and thought about the odd dream that he was having where he heard voices in his head that argued with him.

_What makes you think this is a dream? I'm just telling you the truth because you're certainly not going to admit it to yourself._

"I had to tell someone. I would have just worried Dad by telling him. Sirius was just an outlet," Remus defended himself against his own inner thoughts reluctantly.

_Maybe if I just finish this, I can go to sleep, _Remus thought hopefully.

_Sleep? Why would you want to sleep when there is this mess to ponder over? Do you think you can pass it off to _me _that he was 'just an outlet?' And when did he become _Sirius _to you? He's always been Black._

"He insists," Remus protested in a half whisper.

_When has that hindered you in the past? Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but the only kind of sleeping you're interested in is with him._

Remus' cheeks colored briefly.

"Shut up. No I don't. I'm going to bed."

_Maybe you're right._

"I always am," Remus murmured quietly.

_But you'll want to later. That will come. Because it's the same thing._

"He's not like Dan," he whispered as quietly and angrily as he could.

_Just put that aside for one minute and think about this._

"I'm listening."

_Why did you go to him tonight?_

Remus' eyes opened slowly and he stared out into blank nothingness that was familiar and as comforting as the blackness behind closed eye lids.

"I thought it was a detention," he answered in a soft spoken, normal speaking voice.

_No you didn't_, the voice of his subconscious prodded gently. _You knew it wasn't. If I let you go on denying things again, you're just going to get hurt. Again._

Remus sighed.

"I can't believe that I'm having this conversation with myself."

_Who else are you going to have it with? Sirius?_

"Quiet. I want to sleep."

_With him._

Remus closed his eyes and cleared his mind to the best of his ability. No more than ten minutes had passed and it seemed that his subconscious was finally put to rest when he opened his eyes in sudden understanding.

"I went because I like him," he whispered and rolled toward the wall again.

Remus had a clear mental image of someone who looked oddly like his father shaking his head sadly and walking away as he fell asleep.

–

Dinner, in Remus' own humble opinion, often times left someone with a sour taste in their mouth rather than a satisfied and content stomach. Meal times, although still closely supervised, were the most apt times to become out of control. There were many staff members assigned and required to attend meals, yet the number of students still greatly outmatched their feeble numbers.

The masses often became rowdy and obnoxious while there remained not much that any staff member could do. Cheeks were often turned in the opposite direction when fights broke out. The staff members proved to be a safe guard only against death when it came to meal times.

Remus thought idly that the school should invest in a third door to the cafeteria as the students attempted to cram their way through the two existing doors. He hung back as they shoved and pushed for purchase through the door ways.

When the hallway was clear as his fellow classmates now fought for space on the staircases, Remus slowly followed them, thinking about another long two hours locked in this dorm room before the lights went out.

Wilton was standing beside the door, counting heads as the grad boys walked, reluctantly, single file into the dorm room.

"Last one as always," Wilton said, treating Remus to a tired smile as he passed. "Two hours boys," he called before shutting the door.

All of the occupants in the room were silent as the manual lock on the door clicked. For the moment there was complete silence on both sides of the door. Remus could only imagine the wonders Stonegate's headmaster was working with his wand and the gift of magic on the other side of the door.

Remus ignored the glares and looks from the other boys as he walked between the bed stands towards his own that resided in the back of the room. He carefully stepped over all of the well placed protruding feet in his path and collapsed onto this bed. He frowned and shifted uncomfortably.

Remus reached for the paperback that was stashed underneath his mattress and squirmed again. Sprawled out on his back and doing his best to ignore the other boys, Remus opened the book to his previously dog eared page and settled back against the thin pillow. He had not managed to read a full page when he sat up and drew the covers back.

The beds that accommodated the residents at Stonegate were not the most comfortable of things. To Remus it was all a matter of finding just the right spot to sleep. If one position didn't suit him, often times there was another that would do the job at least decently.

Tonight, however, it seemed that no matter how many times he shifted and wiggled, no spot held comfort for him. Remus felt as if something was digging into his back constantly.

Underneath his blanket, Remus found that his bed was so uncomfortable because something really was digging into his back. In the center of his bed was a large chocolate bar wrapped in gold tinfoil and brown paper. The delicate green script M in the bottom right corner gave away its value.

A second passed in which he could do little more than stare at the expensive, impressive candy bar. Snapping back to reality, Remus checked over his shoulder quickly before snatching the bar and laying down on the bed. He pulled the blanket over his head and examined the chocolate bar more closely.

Remus unwrapped it slowly, folding back the wrapper bit by bit until a corner of the dark chocolate appeared over the paper wrapping. He brought it to his mouth and bit a small corner off of the bar.

As the chocolate melted over his tongue and coated his mouth, Remus realized for the first time the folded piece of notebook paper that must have fallen from the folds of the wrapper when he had opened the candy bar. Taking another nibble of a bite, Remus picked the paper up between his fingers and opened it. He stopped in the middle of savoring the third bite as the script on the note impacted him.

_I hope you like the chocolate. It is very popular in Greece where it means food of the gods. I'm not a big fan myself. My room at nine. Tell me what you think of it._

_Sirius_

Remus looked from the short note to the chocolate bar several times before setting the note aside and taking another larger bite out of the bar. He finished half of it, rewrapped it carefully, and placed it under his pillow.

_What the hell does that mean? _Remus wondered as he settled down on his back. He pulled the blanket up to his chin and sighed. _Guess I'll find out tonight._

He sighed in mild confusion and frustration while opening the paperback again. Reading now seemed like something trivial when compared to the content of Sirius' note. It wouldn't stay off of his mind no matter how hard he attempted to concentrate. Remus reread several of the same sentences, only to go back to remembering how good the chocolate had tasted and of Sirius wanting to see him at nine.

Remus closed the book after an admit of defeat and rolled toward the wall to steal another bite of chocolate.

"How the hell did he know where I sleep?" Remus murmured to the wall as he wrapped the chocolate bar back up again and stashed it away.

–

The lights went out at nine o' clock in all of the dorm rooms every night. Including weekends. They were set on an automatic schedule that no one but Wilton had control over. As soon as the lights went out all of the students were supposed to be in bed. It was an unspoken rule that no one followed and one that was not expected, even by the teachers.

Remus had already quietly pushed his bed slightly away from the wall. Over the span of two hours that they had had before the lights went out, he had, bit by bit, inched his bed away from the wall so that he could slip between the narrow crack formed between wall and bed frame. He waited impatiently for nine thirty to come, at which time he had deemed it safe to slip away unnoticed from the pitch black room.

He loosened the screws once more and put them into his pockets. Then he slipped carefully backwards into the vent and pulled the metal vent back to securely fit in the hole cut out of the wall. Remus wormed his way backwards until he hit the vent of the utility closet. One sound kick freed it and in a moment he was lifting the window across the hallway and sneaking out onto the roof.

Mind more focused on his footwork, Remus picked his way over the well used path on the roof with ease. He came to the window that would lead him to the hallway above the floor where Sirius' quarters were located and climbed through it with caution.

He darted down the rest of the hallway and went quickly down the stairs. Remus went to Sirius' door and, finding it unlocked, let himself in.

Remus closed it behind him, stood on the balls of his feet to make sure no one had witnessed his break from the window to his defense professor's quarters, and sighed in relief when the hallway was empty.

"If you're running from the law," Sirius said from the couch behind him. "I can't help you."

Remus turned and leaned back against the door, a mild glare directed at his teacher.

"I wouldn't look like it if you hadn't decided to make it nine. You do know that's lights out don't you? I'm not even supposed to be here."

"And you were last time?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"At least Wilton thought I was at a detention," he mumbled and pushed himself off of the door. Remus toed his shoes off and sat on the other end of the couch, pressed comfortably against the armrest. "You have expensive taste in chocolate."

"Would you rather I had cheap?"

"Expensive is fine. I just wish you hadn't—"

"Spare me the self righteous bull. I have a ton that I brought from home. Don't think I went out of my way or anything."

"Oh," Remus murmured and looked at the ground. Fleeting thoughts that the older man might like him became less likely in Remus' mind.

"Come on. I didn't tell you to come just so I could put you down. Don't take it to heart."

"Then why am I here?"

"Because I told you to come. I never imagined you to be the obedient type."

Remus looked up with a defiant glare and wished he had thought more about going to Sirius rather than letting confused emotions get in the way and take the better of him. Sirius returned his own smug look and reached for a box on the floor. He lifted it onto the couch between them and pulled the lid off. Remus resisted the urge to move closer to peer inside and instead looked at his teacher.

"What's that?"

"I thought we could have a movie night."

Remus blinded twice and looked from Sirius to the large box and back again.

"What?"

"A night that we watch movies—"

"No. I know what you're talking about but…"

Sirius shrugged. He flipped through the contents of the box and took a few of the cases out. He set them beside him and looked through the rest.

"It gets really boring being here all by yourself. I can't say that I've made friends amongst the staff. That wasn't my intention in teaching here. And at least you know how to make intelligent conversation."

"Sirius."

"Yes?" The older man prompted as he withdrew another movie and added it to his pile.

"What are your intentions in teaching here?"

Sirius froze momentarily before picking up a movie and skimming the back cover for plot information. He shook his head and replaced it back inside of the box.

"Are you going to let me pick out all of these movies myself? I can't be held responsible if you don't like anything."

"I'm not picky," Remus said, sliding nearer to Sirius and looking into the box.

He tried not to think of their evening together as a date as he fingered through the numerous titles.

"You pick a few. I'm going to go get popcorn and the like. When I come back we can decide which ones to watch."

"Alright," Remus said, thinking how surreal the situation was as he watched Sirius disappear into the conjoint kitchen.

_He invited me over. To watch movies, _Remus thought with a happy grin. He shook his head to reestablish reality and pulled the plastic tote onto his lap to finish his selection.

"I hope you're only picking good ones," Sirius said as he came out of the kitchen with a large blue bowl filled to the top with popcorn balanced on his hip and two mugs held tightly in the other hand.

"They're your movies, I hope you like them."

"Well, some more than others," the black haired man shrugged as he set the popcorn bowl onto the coffee table and the two steaming mugs beside it.

Remus picked up a piece of buttered popcorn, examined it briefly, and popped it into his mouth. He reached for one of the mugs. Sirius reached for his hand and wrapped it around the other mug instead.

"This one's mine."

Remus picked up the mug that Sirius deemed one he could use and stared down at it for a moment.

"Don't you ever have anything other than coffee?"

"What do you want? Water?"

"It would be nice."

"How do you expect to stay up all night and watch movies if you drink water?"

"I don't need caffeine to stay awake," Remus replied as he set the mug down and grabbed a handful of popcorn instead.

"So you are hungry."

"There's not much for dinner unless you want to fight for it. I'd rather not," he answered after he finished with his handful of popcorn.

Sirius laid the selected movies out on the coffee table and read quickly through all of the titles. He snorted and picked one up.

"I can tell you picked this one."

"What?" The younger boy asked as he put his hands on his knees and leaned forward for a better look. "Hey. I like that movie."

"It better not be your normal taste or I don't think we're going to get along very well," Sirius said as he placed Remus' selection back into the box.

"I have a very wide variety, thank you very much. What's wrong with it?"

"Don't get me wrong. It's a good movie. During the last fifteen minutes. The rest of it's so long and dull and boring. I refuse."

"Fine. Then I don't want to watch this one," Remus smirked and picked the one from in front of his teacher. Sirius grabbed for it quickly and tugged back. The movie was suspended above the coffee table, one end in Remus' hands and the other in Sirius'.

"We're watching this one first, for your information."

"But it's _so slow_," Remus said with a laugh and a half tug on the movie.

"Speak for yourself. You just have bad taste in movies," Sirius half growled, pulling back.

"Takes one with bade taste to know one with bad taste."

"I do _not _have bad taste."

"Whatever you say," Remus said as he relinquished his hold on the debated movie and sprawled out on the couch. He grabbed the popcorn bowl and held it against his stomach.

Sirius frowned and went over to the television and pushed the movie into the VCR. He pressed the play button and went back to the couch.

"Alright, budge up."

Remus squirmed comfortably on the couch and stayed firmly in place. Sirius sighed and lifted him up by the waist. He sat down and Remus settled his head into Sirius' lap.

"So difficult."

"I would have moved if you had said _please_."

"If you say so."

Remus closed his eyes contently and concentrated on all of the places where Sirius' warm body touched his own.

"I take it back. This is a really good movie."

"Why is that?"

"I just remembered how good it was," Remus sighed comfortably and curled closer to his teacher.

He was surprised that Sirius let him.

He was surprised when Sirius slipped an arm around his shoulders and kept it there the entire night.

–


	17. Chapter 17

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

It was easier to think with only one basketball pelting the gym floor rather than three dozen. It had an almost calming quality to it, Remus reflected as he threw the ball against the far wall and caught it when it bounced back to him. He was beginning to understand why basketball was the most sought after sport among the residents of Stonegate. The ball bounced against the floor at an even pace in the dark gym as Remus' mind wandered else where.

The well read letter that lay abandoned on the white taped side lines reminded Remus of why he had fled to the safety that the quiet of the empty gym offered. It provided him a quiet place to sort out his tangled thoughts and sheltered him from the taunting voices of his dorm mates.

_They're just jealous, _Remus thought angrily, throwing the ball with as much force as he could. It sailed over the backboard and bounced away into the darkness. His heart beat rolled into his throat as he listened to the basketball bounce and finally roll away in the pitch black gymnasium.

Remus walked over to the letter that he'd already read over several times to make sure there hand been no mistake. He collapsed against the wall and folded the letter over several times in his anxious hands. He folded it in half at the crease mark and reread the first line. Time had not altered it and Remus read no further but rather he folded it into a neat little square and glared at it.

Startled, he jumped when the basketball that he had angrily thrown away rolled to his feet out of the darkness. Remus was on his feet quickly with the letter clenched defensively in his fist. He tried to make his mouth work, but was unable to.

The sinking feeling that settled in the pit of his stomach upon hearing his visitor's approach confirmed that it was not danger that he was in but trouble.

"Headmaster," Remus greeted calmly, belying the nervousness that he felt.

"So calm, Mr. Lupin," Mr. Wilton sneered as his shined shoes clicked their way in front of his charge. "I trust you're aware that it is past curfew? Much past, truth be told."

Remus gulped and prayed that the headmaster of Stonegate hadn't heard it as he opened his mouth to continue what he hoped to be a calm and relaxed conversation on his part. The glaring over head lights of the gym snapped on all at once and flooded the large, high ceiling room with harsh, artificial light.

Wilton staggered backward in surprise, the sound of his shoes on the floor sounding like an impromptu tap dance. Remus' eyes shut instinctively against the assault on his sense of sight.

"No sense talking in the dark, gentlemen," Sirius' smooth voice kneaded no introduction. There were none that sounded quite similar to his.

Remus found himself taking an involuntary step toward the owner of the voice. He stopped himself before Wilton's head snapped from his employee to his student.

"Black, what are you doing here? I can handle this. Go back to your quarters."

"How's Lupin to serve his detention if I leave now?"

"Detention?" Both Remus and the headmaster of Stonegate questioned in unison.

Wilton glared at Remus and the younger boy quickly averted his eyes to the floor.

"Don't sound so shocked. Yes. Detention, of course."

"If he's with you then make sure he _stays _with you, Black. I can't have a werewolf running around this school unattended," Wilton spat and glanced sternly between the two of them before heading for the door on the opposite end from the one that Sirius was lounging in.

"Don't just stand there, move," Wilton yelled over his shoulder as Remus remained stuck in place from the surprise of his rescue.

Remus winced and walked slowly to where Sirius stood.

_Waiting for me._

The thought made his pace quicken and he broke into a run when he heard the sound of the door slamming on the other end of the gym that announced Wilton's exit.

"Happy to see me?" Sirius asked the bowed head that was hidden in his chest. Awkwardly noting the younger boy's shaking shoulders, Sirius pulled him away and regarded him at an arms length.

"Why so upset?"

"He's gone. He's gone and he's never coming back."

"Who?" Sirius asked of the boy whose calm of a few minutes prior had already fled.

"My dad."

Speechless, Sirius watched as his student's eyes filled to the brim with shining tears that threatened to fall. He could think of no way to lighten the situation and silently led Remus out of the gym and down the hall. Remus compiled without complaint which made Sirius sigh with relief as he ushered the boy into his room and locked the door behind them.

Remus sunk into the only armchair in the room and stared at the letter in his shaking hands. He didn't notice as the professor sat on the couch nearly at his elbow. He only had eyes for the letter, the short letter from his father that had been the single cause of so much distress. He only had mind for the man that was on a plane somewhere, leaving him far behind.

Experimenting, Sirius tugged at the piece of paper clenched in Remus' hand. Upon finding some give, he removed it and began unfolding it. Sirius kept glancing at Remus every so often to make sure that what he was doing had not crossed the taboo threshold. Remus didn't protest as he slowly unfolded the letter, nor to him reading the first sentence. In fact, Remus' eyes were still fixed on his hand where the letter had been until recently.

Sirius read through the letter quickly, least Remus notice that it was missing and become distressed. When done, he placed it on the coffee table between them.

"It's not so bad, Remus," Sirius started quietly after he had carefully chosen where to begin.

"Not so bad?" Remus choked, the first drafts of emotion welling in his voice and his eyes focusing from his hands to Sirius' face. "How can you say that?"

Sirius exhaled and proceeded carefully, aware that he was dealing with thin ice that was on the verge of shattering directly under his feet.

"It's not like he's gone forever, Remus. He is coming back," Sirius said quietly and added after a long pause. "It's not as if he's dead, Remus."

"I know that," the younger boy exploded and jumped to his feet. "You think I don't bloody well know that? America! America, what was he thinking?"

"He's probably thinking it's good money."

"Shouldn't I come first, dammit!" Remus snarled and paced small circles like a caged animal, desperately looking for the one and only way out. Remus found it through Sirius.

"Don't I have a right? Don't I have a fucking right?"

"No. Quite frankly you don't," Sirius said in a cool tone that had the desired effect of making Remus stop pacing.

"Now sit down. You're acting just how this school expects you to."

Remus dropped so fast into the previously occupied armchair that Sirius had to blink twice to gain his surroundings. Remus clenched the arms of the chair so hard that his knuckles were stark white.

"It's not just a client. It's a _woman_."

"Remus, stop. You're acting like a child."

"Stop! How the hell am I supposed to stop! He's leaving me and it's not fair!" Remus' rant ended in a choked sound that brought an end to the anger and a start to the tears.

"It's not like he's really leaving you. You're still stuck here either way."

"I can't talk to him until summer, that's when he'll be back. I write him every _week._"

"Why don't you just use a school owl?" Sirius had barely finished his question when Remus shook his head sadly.

"Local post only. Ten mile radius. Which really freaking helps seeing how we're in the middle of _no where_."

"Stop snapping. Being angry is not going to bring him back."

This remark brought on a new wave of tears that Remus wiped away with the back of his hand, leaving two tried and red eyes behind. Sirius sighed and stood up to go to the kitchen. Remus watched him go with his red eyes. In the kitchen, pulling down two mugs, Sirius could feel the gaze of Remus' eyes glaring into his back as he brewed the coffee. He shielded his hands protectively from Remus' watchful eyes as he added a calming potion to the younger boy's coffee.

"Here, it'll make you feel better," Sirius said as he placed the sugar and cream on the coffee table and the steaming mug in Remus' hands. The heated porcelain burned the flesh of his hands but Remus squeezed the mug tighter, opting the pain over the despair.

He stared at the contents of the mug and watched as the steam drifted up from the mug and disappeared somewhere in the atmosphere.

"It's laced, isn't it?" Remus whispered without looking up at his teacher.

Sirius froze and went pale at being caught. He didn't answer but sipped his own coffee instead. Remus sighed and brought the coffee to his lips. Unaware of his own actions, Sirius had remained perfectly still and was perched on the end of the couch cushion, leaning toward Remus. When he saw the younger boy looking at him curiously, Sirius caught himself and sat back quickly.

Remus smiled faintly around the rim of the mug and drank steadily from it. He kept glancing at Sirius out of the corner of his eye as he paused and then drank again several times. At length, he set the empty coffee mug on the table beside Sirius' and closed his eyes.

Sirius was unsure if he had given Remus too much of the potion meant only to curb his emotions or if Remus was so exhausted that the calming potion was the only way to get him to drift off to sleep. But within a few minutes of administering the potion to his student, Remus' eye lids had stopped fluttering open to check on him and his breathing had lapsed into the deep and relaxed breathing of sleep. Sirius dragged the armchair over towards the right, covered the younger boy with a spare blanket from the small closet in his bedroom, and then retired to his own bed.

His position from his bed combined with an open bedroom door allowed Sirius to have a direct line of sight of his sleeping student. Remus was curled into a ball on the armchair with the blanket draped over his sleeping body. Only his head was visible from under the blanket.

_He knew it had something in it, _Sirius thought as he lay staring at the sleeping form in his line of sight. _He knew and he still drank it._

The thought astonished Sirius that, given some of Remus' previous life experiences, he had still taken the drugged drink, fully aware that he may or may not wake up bound and gagged. This lead Sirius to wonder if he had known about Dan's drug or not. He liked to fancy that Remus was unaware and that he had only taken Sirius' offered drink out of his own free will and trust.

This train of thought had the effect of surprising and pleasing him all at once.

_You took it because you trust me. I could do anything to you, but you took it because you trust me._

The thought, simple in meaning, but complex and overly deep when applied to their relationship took Sirius by surprise. He went on thinking like this for quite some time. The entire time that he was lost to his own thoughts, Sirius was on his side. His grey eyes were fixed steadily on the object of his thoughts that slumbered across from him. Sirius watched his student, truly transfixed, until his eyes began to become heavy with sleep.

_This shouldn't excite me so much, _Sirius thought sleepily as his eyes closed and he lost the ongoing battle to keep them open.

_You took it because you trust me. Because you like me._

These were his final thoughts before he began the long descent into darkness and unbiased sleep, sleep that eventually claimed all, that would last well into tomorrow morning.

–

Remus awoke with a start. As soon as his eyes were open, he sat up quickly, panting in shallow breaths. While he had slept and as he had gradually come closer to wakefulness, a cold sweat had come over him. It was terror that had caused him to wake and it was terror that he felt as he surveyed the dark room.

He grabbed protectively at the blanket covering his nerve raked frame and clutched it close as he stood up from the armchair. His neck hurt from sleeping in such a tightly curled knot, but he paid no attention to the aches coursing through his body like poison. Remus stumbled toward the open door through which a dim light shone from.

Reaching the doorway, Remus paused and poised himself there. The dim light that had first attracted him to the room came from the lighted numbers on the digital alarm clock on the night stand beside the bed. Peering closer, Remus saw that the sleep shrouded form of his professor lay on his side under a thin sheet. Remus pulled the blanket tighter around his body as a phantom chill shook him from watching his teacher sleep with such little accommodations for warmth.

Remus' breathing evened out when he faced the reality that Sirius had drugged him to sleep and that he had awoken in the same state as he'd fallen asleep in. Not counting his sore neck, of course.

He sat down on the edge of Sirius' bed and exhaled deeply. Remus ran his fingers over his face and through his hair. The coarse blanket slipped from his shoulders and pooled around his waist. He glanced at the alarm clock and saw that it was only half past four.

_Still enough time to get back upstairs, _Remus thought as he stood carefully, collecting the blanket in his arms as his brown eyes never left the sleeping face of his professor.

_You could have…done anything, _Remus realized in awe as he folded the blanket double over his bent arm.

Hesitantly, he placed it over Sirius' shoulder and held his breath as he waited for the older man to stir. Sirius lay lost to sleep, not moving as the extra weight was added to his shoulders.

Remus sat down again, this time in his professor's desk chair. He was truly overwhelmed by the fact that he had been so vulnerable. On the desk top among other such clutter where several blank envelopes. Remus scribbled his two syllable response to the night he had managed to sleep through peacefully and placed it on top of the alarm clock that was due to go off in a short two hours.

Remus would be unaware if his thank you note was accepted or not until the next day at dinner when Sirius invited him back again for another detention.

–


	18. Chapter 18

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

It became a routine between the two of them. Sirius would stop beside Remus' table at dinner time, quietly tell him to come down to his room after curfew, and then proceed over to sit with the rest of the staff. After two weeks straight of their secret meetings, Sirius stopped asking to see how far he had ensnared the younger boy and Remus would come without fail at the same time as before, all without being asked.

Sirius enjoyed these games to see how much of Remus' trust he really had. They had coffee every night, Sirius' black and Remus' overloaded with sugar and cream till it wasn't even coffee at all but some new kind of beverage all together. Sirius had become prone to testing the limits of Remus' trust by drugging his mug every once and a while to see if he would drink it.

During the first initial time, Remus eyed Sirius carefully from under hooded eye lids, as if to tell him without works that he knew exactly what the other man was up to. The he drained the mug and lay back on the couch, waiting for the drug that would take effect shortly and knock him out. Sirius then graduated to other drugs and potions that Remus had no idea what they would do. Every time Sirius added something new, Remus would drink it. He would drain it each and every time with barely a blink of an eye in Sirius' direction.

_You trust me. Too much_, Sirius thought with a smug sense of wonder as Remus drank from another mug and curled up on the couch beside him as he instantly began to feel drowsy.

_You _really _trust me_, Sirius thought as Remus yawned and rested his head on Sirius' thigh.

Remus' eyes drifted close without reluctance or hesitation and he remained fast asleep until an hour later when the drug wore off and he blinked groggily into wakefulness.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Remus asked as he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his curled hand. He transferred his head from Sirius' thigh to his shoulder.

Sirius felt his heart skip a beat as Remus brought up the subject that both of them were well aware of but one that neither had ever discussed.

"Do what?"

Remus pressed his forehead into his teacher's shoulder.

"Put things in my coffee," Remus whispered and lifted his head off of Sirius' shoulder. He regarded his teacher with two warm eyes that had lost all traces of sleep and had been replaced with the seriousness of the context of their conversation.

Sirius met his student's gaze straight on and let the silence play out until he thought Remus deserved a response after waiting so quietly for so long.

"I wanted to see if you'd drink it, that's why," Sirius said, guiding Remus' watchful gaze away from his eyes and lowering his head back to his thigh so that he could stroke the younger boy's soft hair.

Remus accepted both the stroking of his hair and Sirius' explanation and did not question his teacher again on the subject like he knew a good student ought to.

–

It wasn't every night that they spent curled upon the couch waiting for Remus' drugged state to ware off, or watched movies, or talked quietly about mundane things that seemed to hold very little significance at the time but sometimes proved to be important later. On the nights that they did none of these things, Remus worked steadily to improve his defense techniques. Some nights, he would surprise his teacher by the progress that he had made by combining his agility with what he had learned over his private sessions with Sirius.

Remus' classmates were as equally surprised as his professor was. They, however, were far better at hiding it than their professor was. Most of the students put on their normal disinterested and snide expressions that they normally associated with Remus.

–

Mrs. Semple, the woman in charge of leading them to and from their classes every Friday and Tuesday, was slowly becoming more and more irritated by each passing minute. The third class started promptly at ten thirty every day. The clock above the gym doors read the time to be ten forty. Irritated, Mrs. Semple sat in the plastic folding chair next to the double doors and watched as the minute had signaled the passing of yet another minute. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the students loitered around the gym. They talked idly amongst themselves and lounged on the red mat that took up the majority of the floor space.

Remus sat by himself against the far wall, thus giving him full view of the main doors at the head of the gym. Occasionally, he looked from these doors to the other set that opened up and led onto the grounds of the school. He wondered constantly where Sirius was for every second that passed and the defense teacher remained absent. In this respect, he was as anxious as Mrs. Semple, though for a entirely different reason. So focused on the doors and his own anxiety, Remus didn't notice the approach of a group of his classmates until their collective shadow fell over him.

"So where's he at, pubs?"

Remus looked up at his classmate from his position on the floor and felt his muscles coil in anticipation.

"Where's who at, Rob?" Remus asked calmly, balling his fists behind his back and shifting his feet out from under him as subtly as he could manage.

"Don't play dumb with me, you little shit," Rob snarled quietly in order to keep Mrs. Semple out of their affairs of business.

"How am I supposed to know where he's at?"

"Dunno," Rob smirked as Remus stood up and started for another, quieter location.

"Just assumed you'd know. That's all."

"Have you ever heard what they say about people that assume things?"

"I just assumed you'd know because you spend so much time with him," Rob called in a louder voice to the shorter boy's retreating back.

Remus stopped walking and turned slowly around to face Rob from where he now stood in the center of the mat. Even Mrs. Semple had disengaged her glare from the clock and moved her narrowed eyes over the boys that had all suddenly grown quite silent.

"Didn't think I'd notice, didja?" Rob said in a triumphant voice that now coupled his smirk. He ran the back of his hand over his mouth and started forward at what he perceived to be a slow and intimidating pace.

"You honestly didn't think that any of us would notice? Come on, Remus. It doesn't take a straight A teacher's pet to notice that you've been sneaking out at night."

Rob stopped advancing after he saw that it was having no effect of making Remus backtrack out of fear. Several paces behind him, the mob of people following him also stopped and shuffled restlessly on their feet. By this time, Mrs. Semple had perched herself on the very edge of her chair, her eyes darting around from one student to the next, waiting for even the slightest show of misconduct.

The others paid her no mind, it was as if she had ceased to exist all together. They only had hungry eyes for Remus and Rob. They sized the both of them up silently. They quietly observed the single student in the center of the mat with his head high and eyes narrowed dangerously and then the other one that stood on the edge of the mat as if hesitant to move any closer to his opponent.

The air thickened with tension. The class could feel that something epic, something do or die, was about to unfold.

"If that's what's bothering you, then why don't you just tell Wilton?" Remus said at length after carefully regarding Rob for several long minutes.

Rob only shrugged his shoulders. There was an unwritten rule that was followed to the very last unspoken syllable at Stonegate. You never told on another student. There was always a larger, more terrifying enemy than an individual and that was the institution.

"Didn't think it would matter much. What can he do if you're sleeping with him?"

Remus' breathing stopped. That seemed to be all the proof that the others needed. Rob's face broke into a ghastly grin and the other students talked amongst themselves and looked at him openly with something akin to smugness.

"Should have known. The only reason you get A's is because you're sleeping with a teacher—"

Remus and Mrs. Semple moved at the same time. Remus' advantage was that he was closer than she and was also much quicker. As soon as he took the first running step toward Rob, the other boy burst into motion and met him at the halfway point.

The moment they collided, Remus ducked Rob's heavy fist and plunged his own into Rob's stomach. The class reacted well to the violence that had suddenly erupted around them. The loud groan of approval that was rapidly swelling exploded from the mob as they surged to form a ring around the snarling boys that had turned all teeth, nails, and fists.

Mrs. Semple arrived a mere moment too late as the last gap in the ring closed. She screamed unintelligibly, but the sound from the mass drowned her out. As she darted around the circle to find a gap in their formation, they closed the ring tighter in order to force Mrs. Semple to run circles around them aimlessly.

Rob's shirt was in bloody tatters as it clung to his body on a few surviving threads. Remus tore at them so that he could get to the tender flesh below. All of his previous lessons in Sirius' private quarters had fled his mind. Sirius' techniques were now replaced with a fighting style that was much more primitive. A style that normally ended in death when it came down to everything in the end. Mrs. Semple realized this and screamed louder and tried to fight her way though all the more viciously. She drew her wand, had half an incantation out of her mouth, and then four of the boys jumped her as well.

Urged on by Remus, Rob, and now the struggling curses of Mrs. Semple, the other boys groaned and pushed roughly at those that got too close to them or threatened to block their view.

Rob struggled way from his attacker, darting to the edge of the circle in hopes of finding refuge there. His classmates denied it by shoving him back into the ring and back to Remus. Once upon a time, they would have been wholeheartedly on Rob's side. Yet now that the odds had changed, they were much more eager to support the more favorable side.

Remus was so engrossed on the act of ripping and tearing that he did not hear the gym door slam open. He didn't hear it hit the wall hard and ricochet back either. Rob was too concerned for his own life to notice the door or to realize that someone was coming to his rescue.

The student body that made the ring was too involved in their entertainment that they did not hear the door either. Mrs. Semple was too stark raving mad at that point, as she fought for control of her wand, that was firing sparks in every which direction, to care much about what was happening around her.

Remus sensed a break in the ring behind his back and instinctively darted in front of Rob to keep him from escaping. The class groaned as they were forced to part but closed again as Mrs. Semple, having abandoning her wand, dived for the opening. Remus growled low in his throat and made for one last lunge at Rob before he could be apprehended.

Remus gasped as he was hit hard on the side of his head. He staggered and was lifted from his waist and dragged backwards away from Rob and back through the tight ring. He tried to aim a last kick at his opponent who lay crumpled on the ground. Remus missed by a measurable amount, but the mere attempt earned him another blow upside the head.

Seeing dimly flashing stars, Remus growled and tried to bite at the arms that were holding him firmly across the chest. He was carried, struggling the whole way, backwards out of the gym. He had one last fleeting glance of the mob staring silently back at him and of Rob being tended over by Mrs. Semple.

Remus struggled with what energy he had left as he was carried down hall after hall. From his backwards position, and what with his mind being completely focused on the bloody mess that was Rob crouched in the gym, it was hard for Remus to discern where he was being dragged. All of the adrenaline made it extremely hard to concentrate clearly.

He heard the sound of a door clicking open behind him and redoubled his struggles to avoid certain unknowns that resided beyond the door.

The familiar smell invaded his senses at once. Remus' eyes widened in realization and surprise. He couldn't see how he hadn't come to the obvious conclusion sooner. His efforts transferred from trying to struggle away to trying to turn his head around to look at the man that had apprehended him and taken him to the familiar room. His efforts were useless as a firm hand was kept at the back of his neck to keep his head straight. The other was curled almost possessively painful around his waist.

"Siriu—" Remus started as he struggled, suspended above the living room floor. His breath left him in one smooth motion as he found his back firmly pressed against the wall.

Sirius' calloused hand was pressing hard against his mouth. The professor need not have restrained him so hard, for Remus had lost the feral glint in his eyes and all will to fight upon seeing his teacher's face.

Livid was surly not the best way to describe the absolute look of fury on Sirius' face. It only came about half as close to how he felt. Remus' eyes lowered in shame and he kissed the warm palm that was pressed so hard against his mouth. Sirius ripped his hand away with a mingled expression of burning anger and a coloring of disgust. Remus slipped forward subconsciously, having been relying on Sirius' strength to hold him upright.

"I don't know you," Sirius hissed as he wiped his hand on his pants while his eyes remained locked on Remus' face.

Remus' eyes tried to hold contact with Sirius'. After a short attempt, Remus' eyes averted to the floor in shame once more.

"What the fuck where you thinking? Fighting with him like that? You could have been killed! You could have—" Sirius cut himself off abruptly and made a low sound in the very back of his throat. He lost all will to yell when the younger boy refused to look at him. He found it difficult to yell at Remus when he already looked so defeated. The werewolf no longer looked as if he had almost literally torn someone limb from limb had he been given a few extra minutes a few moments ago.

"I can't yell at you when you're like that," Sirius said quietly with only a minimal edge in his voice.

Somewhere in the midst of his anger, Sirius had cornered the younger boy against the wall and had his hands on the wall on either side of Remus' head. Remus looked from one hand to the other slowly, saw that he was trapped, and accepted it. He leaned back against the wall and sought the courage to look the man whom he had come to trust and respect so much in the eye. Silence descended upon them and threatened to become permanent when Remus broke it quietly.

"I wouldn't have killed him."

Remus found himself leaning in toward the warmth that the other man's body offered, having finally been able to look Sirius in the eye.

"You could have."

Sirius' half mumbled reply reflected heavily that his mind had wandered from their conversation. Indeed, he had started to focus more carefully on how Remus was slowly closing the distance that separated them. He had to stop himself from tipping forward to meet Remus halfway.

"Why do you care?"

Remus tilted his head up, closed his eyes, and waited patiently for Sirius' answer.

It was exactly the kind of answer that he had hoped for and expected all at the same time. It was long and hard and not at all what he could have ever imagined it to be. He felt Sirius' hands move from their position on the wall to tangle in his hair.

Sirius' fingers knotted themselves in Remus' hair and he tipped the younger boy's head further back. Remus moaned in agreement and his hand crept under the older man's plain button down shirt to rest on the toned flesh beneath. It was an invitation that Sirius greeted greedily as he pushed Remus harder against the wall with his body and tightened his finger's hold in the brown hair spilling over Remus' forehead.

Remus' fingers fumbled on the bottom most button on Sirius' shirt questionably before pulling it apart. He hesitated, simply enjoying the feeling of Sirius' tongue, wet and searching, as it mapped his mouth with a certain degree of expertise. Sirius picked up his opportunity to lead. His long fingered hand slipped down the length of Remus' side and started to work skillfully on his belt. Sirius slid it easily from it's belt loop restraints and was rewarded with a soft moan from Remus as the younger boy tried to push himself closer to Sirius.

Spurred on further yet, Sirius quickened his pace. His caressing tongue was replaced with small nips to Remus' bottom lip and he lost all pretense of grace as he undid the button on Remus' pants with both hands.

Sirius had to pause at the zipper, although the undeniable heat was tempting him heavily. He broke for breath and, panting near feverish breaths, waited for what had stopped him in the first place.

He did not have long to wait. A mere moment after his pause he felt the slight trembling of the smaller body pressed tightly against his own.

_He still trusts me_, Sirius thought, but then followed it quickly with, _He_'s _afraid of me._

Sirius closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to count backwards silently and slowly from ten five times. Once done, he tipped his head back and opened his eyes. The cracked ceiling greeted him just as it always had and Sirius exhaled deeply. Self control regained, he noticed that Remus still hadn't relinquished his death hold.

"Hey—" Sirius started out of the simple need to say anything rather than to say something important.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Remus whispered in a horrified voice.

"Don't be," Sirius said absentmindedly as he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth in hopes of keeping control over himself.

Remus slid out of Sirius' arms and down the wall quickly. Using Sirius' distraction to his advantage, Remus darted out from beneath Sirius' arms and lunged for the door.

He gripped the doorknob tightly and looked back at Sirius with a deathly pale face.

"I'm so sorry. It never happened. Just pretend it never happened."

"Remus—"

"Please," he whispered in a broken voice, wrenched the door open and left Sirius to his own confused thoughts as he went to contemplate his own.

–


	19. Chapter 19

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Mr. Wilton, headmaster of Stonegate Academy, surveyed the waiting crowd gathered outside of the grad boys' room with rapidly growing distaste.

"What's going on here?" He snapped, walking briskly toward the group of restless werewolves.

They shifted uneasily on their feet and parted for him when he started to push his way toward the door.

"It's Lupin, sir," a voice called from the back of the group.

Wilton turned quickly to regard the person that had addressed him. He looked closely at the knot of students and found that the quiet boy that normally hung towards the back of the group was missing.

"Where's Lupin?"

"That's what we're trying to tell you," the boy at his shoulder sneered.

"He's gone and locked himself in," the original voice from the back filled in.

"Locked himself if? In this room?" Wilton exclaimed, motioning toward the door with a sneer plastered openly on his face. "Impossible."

"Certainly possible."

"It's impossible," he snapped, making a grab for the door handle. "This door can't be locked."

"Yeah, tell that to the door," the boys snickered, smiling broadly and innocently at the headmaster as he turned to glare at the assembled students.

"Lupin, are you in there?" Mr. Wilton asked as he knocked briskly on the dorm door with the back of his knuckles. There was only silence from the other side of the door.

Turning slightly pink in the face, the headmaster of Stonegate made his voice rise in volume.

"I know you're in there so just make it easy on yourself and open the door."

From his position on his bed on the far wall, Remus stared unresponsively at the door. He quietly longed that his classmates on the other side of the door, the headmaster, Mr. Wilton, Stonegate, and its oppressive atmosphere, would simply vanish. He sighed, tucked his knees tight against his chest and wished for the quiet comfort of home and the silent understanding and reassurance that only his father could offer. More than anything, more than his ever existing desire to be rid of Stonegate Academy forever, Remus longed for the comfort of home where he was alone to sort out the emotional mess that revolved around him involving his defense teacher.

"—last warning!"

Remus blinked hard twice and focused his gaze on the door. The door knob was rattling frantically and Remus could hear the muffled snickers from his classmates on the other side of the door.

"Ready when you are, Mr. Wilton," Remus murmured as he slid from his bed and started to unscrew the vent from underneath his bed. He had just replaced the last screw and, while making his way quietly backwards, heard the door finally give way under the continued assault.

Remus felt the smallest of smiles pull at his lips as Mr. Wilton confronted the piled bed frames that blocked his efforts to enter the dorm room. He fought his way through the tangled mass of cheep bronze imitate frames and stood in the middle of the empty room with his chest heaving from the physical effort from his forced entry into the dorm room.

More than slightly bewildered, Mr. Wilton surveyed the room thoroughly before clearing the wreckage from the door with his wand and snapping at the boys to fill in and to do so silently. They moved into the room with only the most minimum of muffled laughter and mutterings as they lay down on their respective beds, attempting to look like the perfect picture of innocence.

They were unable to hold their laughter for very long. The grad boys dissolved into uncontrollable laughter the moment Wilton had cleared the door and slammed it shut. The boys did not even have the common courtesy to wait until after the headmaster had sealed the door with its various locking charms and his footsteps had stopped echoing along the corridor.

Remus listened from his spot curled on the bottom of the broom closet as Mr. Wilton marched down the hallway. His shoes made an angry sound that almost matched his angry voice that spoke quickly into the small walkie-talkie that operated off of magic. Mr. Wilton's voice was angry and quiet as he spoke into the device that he always carried in the inside of his suit jacket to alert the other members of the staff of any such problems that may arise.

Such as a missing student.

Remus waited until the response came through from the other line. He could feel his heart leap and his breathing stalled momentarily as he heard Sirius' voice answer on the other side of the line.

_Probably thinking 'good riddance,' _Remus thought soberly as he carefully let himself out of the utility closet and slunk to the window that would allow him access onto the steep roof.

–

Sirius stood dripping wet from his interrupted shower with the small communication device gripped tightly in his hand. The grip was in part to keep it from slipping through his slippery hand and also because he was tense with suspense as he waited for Wilton to respond.

"Wilton, I asked you a question. What do you mean that you do not know where Remus Lupin is?"

He let his thumb off the release on the side of the walkie-talkie and hung his head low. Sirius clenched his teeth together in frustration as static filled the other side of the line. The walkie-talkie clicked on and off quickly, causing Sirius' head to jerk up as he waited for Wilton's grating voice. It clicked on and the line was filled with a heavy static; Sirius strained in desperation and was able to make out some of Mr. Wilton's aggravated answer.

Sirius could catch only snatches of what Wilton was saying, but he had caught enough to make out what Wilton was attempting to say.

"If you're so goddamn worried, Black, then get out here and help us look for him."

Sirius threw the black hand held communication device onto the bed and stormed back to the bathroom without answering the headmaster. He yanked open the bathroom door violently and swapped his bath towel for his black bathrobe. The bathrobe swept long and warm to the floor as he tied it snugly around his waist.

The walkie-talkie buzzed and crackled into life on the bed. Sirius ignored it as he left his quarters and left Mr. Wilton's disembodied voice to call for assistance into the empty bedroom.

With a rapidly mixing sensation of concern and discomfort, Sirius navigated the deserted halls in his slippers. He muttered quietly to himself as he walked quickly with his mind set on one destination.

"Dammit, he was _there _at dinner. I _watched _him eat. I _watched _him leave. Are you trying to tell me that you somehow, magically, managed to lose him going from dinner to the dorm room? Fucking hell, Wilton," Sirius growled angrily under is breath as he shouldered open the long since barricaded door that led to the once glamorous east yard.

"Remus," Sirius yelled sharply. "I know you're out here. Come here."

Sirius waited what seemed to be the mandatory five seconds and then exhaled deeply. He crossed his arms partly out of anger and partly as an attempt to ward off the chilling wind that was whipping in from the south.

"Now," he exhaled in one breath while putting forth his best commanding air.

Sirius' authority still seemed to be rather strong, for the top of Remus' head peered over the gutter on the roof. Remus gazed reluctantly down at his summoner.

"You called?" Remus said quietly, his voice just barley carrying over the wind. More of his head emerged and then his thin shoulders leaned over the gutter as well.

"Bloody hell, get down here," Sirius snapped, his arms uncrossing and the fight leaving him in an expressionless exhale of bated breath.

Sirius watched, torn, as Remus straightened himself and carefully slid feet first to the awaiting and muddy ground below. His knees buckled slightly under his weight as his sudden descent was met with soft ground that refused to provide stable support.

As he watched Remus straighten up and advance slowly toward him with his head down, Sirius felt both rooted to the spot and also the strong desire to walk forward and meet his weary student halfway.

_It's a little hard to think of him as just my student now, _Sirius thought and turned back to go inside in order to save his already soiled slippers from any further harm.

Now moved to the safety and shelter of the dark hallway, Sirius looked form his slippers that would either need major cleaning or to be disposed of, to Remus. The younger boy seemed to be moving slower and slower with every step that brought him closer to Sirius.

"What were you thinking?" Sirius hissed and grabbed Remus by the wrist before he even had the chance to clear the threshold.

A quiet, surprised yelp escaped Remus' mouth as he was dragged down the hall.

"You could have gotten sick out there," Sirius continued as his free hand when to the tie of his robe.

Remus' sharp eyes followed the silent progress of his professors' fingers as they started to untie the robe.

"Professor," Remus yelped and struggled backward as Sirius' robe started to slip open.

"What—" Sirius started, braking off when his robe slipped open by degrees and he came to realize that he had nothing on underneath. His question ended in a disgruntled yell as he yanked himself free from Remus and clutched his robe shut.

Remus was staring at him wide eyed from his position a few paces behind his teacher. Sirius blinked back at him, swore quietly, and went to work quickly tying his robe.

"I'm sorry," Sirius gasped, eyes down on his fingers as they worked too quickly, fumbled, and was forced to start over. "You were cold," he went on rambling an explanation to his fingers. "I was just going to give you my coat," Sirius trailed off in a hallow, forced sort of laughter. "But I don't even _have _my coat. It's my robe. My bloody _robe_," Sirius said in a hoarse, hysterical sort of voice.

Satisfied with his robe now tied tightly, a bit too snugly, around his waist, Sirius turned to face his student fully. He regarded Remus with a stern and clam face as if the incident had not come to pass at all.

"Lupin's back in his room. I will take care of disciplinary actions myself in the morning. If you're all as tired as I am, you'd best get some rest," Sirius said into the communication device moments after he opened the door to his quarters and summoned the small device into his hand.

He let his thumb off of the release and, as he spoke, looked Remus directly in the eye. Remus met his gaze and held it unblinkingly. Sirius got a moment of fuzzy response and then a moment of clear affirmation from Mr. Wilton.

"Disciplinary actions?"

Sirius turned of the communication device and set it one his cluttered desk.

"Come."

Sirius turned from his student and led him fully into his quarters. Remus' eyes traveled to the floor in some semblance of shame and he watched the hem of Sirius' bathrobe ebb and flow mere inches above the floor.

"You could have gotten sick. I didn't know where you were. For all I knew, you had run away because of..."

"I just wanted some space," Remus said quietly, filling in the silence that Sirius left trailing behind in his wake.

"Lock it," Sirius called over his shoulder without the slightest backward glance as he went into his bedroom and left the door partway open.

Remus took an undetermined amount of time, more time than was absolutely needed, as he locked the door. Remus played with the simple lock between his fingers and only turned to the living room when he was certain that he had allowed his defense teacher more than enough time to get dressed in something for bed. He seated himself lightly on the end of the lone couch that was closest to the door and waited awkwardly as Sirius emerged from his bedroom.

What Sirius had deemed suitable for a decent night sleep was a pair of red draw string pants that sat comfortably low. Remus blushed and his eyes volleyed between the floor and the door.

"What?" Sirius asked as he went into the kitchen, started the coffee, and set the mugs out on the worn counter top surface. He came back into the living room holding two steaming mugs of coffee, one black and one sweetened beyond that with large amounts of sugar and cream, and a sheepish smile parted his lips.

Remus' eyes darted up to regard him momentarily before quickly averting back to the floor to study the threadbare and patternless carpet that blanketed Sirius' small living space. The older man excused himself silently and came back into the living room slipping into a loose tee shirt that fitted him easily and comfortably.

"Better?" Sirius asked as he pulled the neck of his shirt. "Can't say that I'm used to it...well, any of it really," Sirius attempted a laugh as he gestured toward the ill matched clothing that encased his body. "But I suppose that I can learn to deal with it for one night."

"You don't have to. I can just go back," Remus said quietly and held his hot coffee between his cupped hands and set it down on the table. He looked blankly at his hands as if in confusion over where the chipped mug had suddenly gone.

"I didn't mean for things to be different between us," Sirius said, his eyes on Remus' hands. "I don't want things to be so awkward."

Remus shook his head and looked at his teacher with moist eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for that."

"Don't apologize to me," Sirius hissed and stood from his spot on the armchair. "Don't say that to me unless you really mean it. I don't think you do. I think you're lying to me when you say that."

Remus stared up at him with wide eyes. Due in part from Sirius' change in tone and demeanor and also because of the heavy accusation that had been placed on his already strained shoulders.

"Lying, sir?" Remus asked, lips trembling ever so slightly. He could feel himself slipping toward seduction of a mild sort that was very tangible.

Sirius held his breath for a moment, debating if he should say the words on the tip of his tongue or if he should carefully choose the words that had the chance to shatter their already delicate situation. After a sustained moment, Sirius exhaled in the form of a sigh and collected his coffee mug in his hands. He sat down and drank deeply from his mug.

"Don't just sit there and stare," Sirius said with a bite in his undertone as he looked over the rim at his student. "Drink."

Remus picked up the mug again with no real determination to drink from it and gazed absently at the watery brown reflection of a single almond shaped eye that blinded mournfully back at him.

"You know, it's kind of like a..." Remus trailed off with a small sheepish smile and shook his head. Sirius, during Remus' quiet spectacle, had given the smaller boy his full attention.

"What?" Sirius knew that Remus' voice was something to be treasured and valued. He hadn't heard much of it over the two weeks that the two of them had remained apart and silent.

"The coffee," Remus said with that same smile as a touch of color brushed against his cheeks.

"Yes."

"Look, just," Remus started and had to stop and turn his head in a miserable attempt to hide the blush that was creeping in on him uninvited. "It's silly."

"You're blushing," Sirius said with a smug grin and leaned back comfortably in the mismatched armchair that clashed horribly with the rest of the room.

"A blind man would notice," he mumbled and became interested in his long piano fingers to a very great extent.

"It can't be that bad."

Remus murmured a response and bowed his head.

"I didn't hear you."

"You have to promise not to laugh," he said quietly and glanced at Sirius out of the corner of his eye.

"I promise."

Remus sighed, closed his eyes, and rested his lips lightly against the thin rim of his coffee cup.

"It's like our own little ritual," he murmured, eyes still closed, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips again. "Coffee." Remus opened his eyes and focused on Sirius with a quiet intensity.

"I don't even _like _coffee," he finished with a quiet laugh and took a small sip.

Sirius snorted and was forced to set down his mug least he drop it. Remus frowned and his fingers tightened around his coffee mug.

"You said you wouldn't."

The look with which Remus now gave Sirius was one of absolute anger and disappointment that the older man couldn't help but laugh at the seriousness of it all. Remus' eyes flashed with a bright sheen that was hurt and stood up, trembling slightly.

"I knew it. I shouldn't have said anything. It's so stupid," Remus growled through clenched teeth. His fingers convulsed around the coffee mug and he headed toward the door.

Sirius sighed deeply, collected himself, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Remus, come here," Sirius said quietly. "Remus," he added with a hint of a commanding tone that finally made Remus stop and turn slowly around. "I'm sorry. We've both had a rough night. Come here and let's try and forget it."

"No," Remus said shortly, although his feet were already taking him to Sirius.

"Yes."

Remus sat quietly on the arm of the chair and let his eyes remain focused on his fingers. He hooked one leg over Sirius' and clenched his fingers into a fist. He startled when Sirius' fingers began to open his clenched fist and smoothed his fingers flat.

"I wasn't laughing at you."

Remus exhaled in a loud breath that voiced perfectly well what he thought of Sirius' explanation. Remus shifted and relaxed against the armchair, his face only inches from that of his professor.

"It's just incredibly amazing that we were both thinking the same thing. Don't you think so?"

Sirius was answered with silence and it took most of his self control not to turn, grab the younger boy by the chin and make him respond.

"Can I stay here?"

Sirius almost asked him to repeat, Remus' voice was so quiet. It was merely the formation of words on his lips.

"You feel you need to ask?"

Remus nodded. "I don't think I know you."

Again that silent almost non-speech that was the formation of words around tongues and lips that were not birthed into sound.

"Have things changed that much?" Sirius' head rolled back against the armchair and he regarded Remus solemnly.

"I don't think they've changed at all. I don't think I ever really knew you at all."

"Never?"

"There's a ring in your desk. A nice ring."

"I was going to get married once upon a happier time."

Remus' shoulders stiffened so slightly that not even Sirius' close and careful observation could detect it.

"When?"

"September."

Remus sat up straight and rigid, his eyes finally meeting Sirius' with an intensity that almost forced Sirius to break eye contact and therefor confess a million different sins to the boy beside him.

"I'm a rebound," Remus said in a flat voice.

"You two could never compare," Sirius insisted with a cold tone that was laced with a noticeable defensive undertone. He had to backtrack and analyze what he had said as soon as it left his mouth because Remus was off his perch on the armchair and heading toward the door again.

"Remus, stop," Sirius growled as he darted up after the younger boy and made a grab for Remus' wrist. Being now well educated and trained in the method of evasion by the very man in pursuit, Remus' toned reflexes jerked his wrist back and his elbow collided with his teacher's shoulder. Remus stood frozen with narrowed eyes as he glared at Sirius over his shoulder. He held the doorknob between his still fingers.

"You could have told me your motives a little sooner. All of this damn mess could have been avoided. All this," Remus paused for a moment and then spat the words out violently. "Wasted time."

He swung the door wide in one silent and smooth motion and instantly felt himself lifted backward. Remus clutched at the door knob briefly and then heard his defense teacher slam the door shut. Remus tried to turn around and was pushed up against the closed door. They both were breathing heavily, not out of exhaustion, but out of the mere excitement of a few fast paced and unpredictable moments. Sirius' face hovered only inches above Remus' own flushed one.

"Am I wasted time?" Sirius hissed.

Remus' eyes narrowed in defiance. His hand searched behind him for the door knob that would release him.

"_Am I?_" Sirius asked again, pressing his body tight against Remus' as if to squeeze the very answer out of him.

Remus gasped and his hands went from the door knob that he had just found, cold and forgotten beneath his finger tips, to Sirius' shoulders.

Remus went slack and rested his forehead against Sirius' shoulder. Sirius sighed and he found that Remus followed him easily when he led him over to the couch and pulled the younger boy down on top of him.

"You two are nothing alike," Sirius murmured as he looked at the ceiling. He threaded his fingers through Remus' tawny hair, windswept from his outing on the roof. He finger combed it so that it laid flat again and concentrated on the solid feeling of another body so near his.

"In a good way," Sirius placed a small kiss behind the tender flesh of Remus' ear and played with his hair until they both fell asleep, completely exhausted.

–


	20. Chapter 20

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

James Potter could think of little other than how much he needed to get this meeting over with as quickly as possible. He sill needed to get home so that he could feed Sirius' mutt. He wouldn't be so concerned if he had only remembered that Apollo liked his breakfast just as much as he, James, did. One missed meal a day didn't do much for a dog of Appy's size, but James didn't want to see how far he could push the mixed breed's metabolism before he became irritated. One upset puppy at home meant Sirius cutting out some vacation time to personally see to it that James was pleasantly unhappy.

James turned the collar up on his coat as he began to slip from the well known and well lit streets into the nation's darker and more secretive regions. The alleys that he now navigated were twisted, shabby, and filthy. Foul odors drifted from the gutters that lined the narrow street and James hurried on so that he could quickly escape the unpleasantness of it all.

He found the unmarked door as easily as he had on every other past visit. James didn't waste his time knocking. Standing mere inches from the solid and unforgiving door, he breathed heavily on it so that his moist breath rebounded into his pale face.

"Black waters assignment Prongs," he whispered to the door.

The door seemed to think for itself for a moment and then opened easily and quietly under the slightest touch. James entered and fixed the collar of his coat once he had cleared the threshold. He did not turn around as the door shut behind the long hem of his coat. The hinges made no noise even though they were orange with rust. The only noise came from behind him where the door was bolting itself back up with numerous clicks and locks sliding securely into place.

A second steel door greeted him at the end of the dark and narrow hallway with wood plank walls. James knocked three times with the back of his curled fist. There was silence from the other side of the door and James waited patiently. His three knocks were replied with two which he quickly followed up with three more. The steel door opened with the slightest hint of a groan and James strode through it with all the airs of an honored guest that is imposing upon his host without caring in the slightest.

"Melbourne," James said with a charming smile as he slipped his coat off and handed it to the man that had answered his knocks. "Be a good chap, yeah?"

The tall and bald Melbourne didn't acknowledge James' greeting and stood silently with the shorter man's coat in his arms.

"Thanks," James said with the same friendly tone.

He saw to escorting himself down the dimly and comfortably lit hallway. As he progressed, the lighting became subtly brighter until his eyes had adjusted before he even had the chance to notice it. By the time he reached the sprawling office with the pond and waterfall in the middle, his eyes were completely accustomed to the lighting.

"I always said it was a waste," James said in a tone that spoke of professional quality. He waved his hand absently at the waterfall and exotic fish that swam in the clear water of the pond.

James seated himself in one of the fat leather armchairs that faced the pond.

"I mean all of this in such a desolate location," he commented with a sigh and shook his head.

"Don't you think it a shame, Quarry?" James asked as his head tilted over his shoulder and his legs crossed at the ankle in front of him.

The man in the dark suit that James addressed had his black eyes focused on James. He stubbed out the cigarette that dangled between his fingers and leaned back in his chair.

"Potter," Quarry said with a smooth tone that only held an undertone of what was once a very thick accent. "I can't say that I was expecting you."

James shrugged and switched his armchair for one that was across from Quarry's large oak desk.

"The timing was good for me."

"Melbourne paged before you got here. He was rather shocked."

"Is that what you call it?" James asked with a mocking smile. He leaned forward and picked one of Quarry's cigarettes off of his desk. "Filthy habit," he murmured as he lit it with a match, also the curiosity of Quarry's desk top, and waved it out.

"Are you here to bullshit around with me or for business?"

"Always business. No offense, Quarry, but you're not really the type of person that I really want to sit here and bullshit with," James said as he took a drag and made a grimace. "Filthy, really."

"I've found something that might interest Black."

"I think that's up to me to decide."

"It will interest you. Trust me."

"There's not much out there that interests him anymore. Sex. Drugs. Me."

"Not money? I'm surprised."

"Cut the crap, Quarry," James said calmly, refusing to raise to the bait that was readily offered to him.

"I don't like the way you two operate. It's been seven months and _nothing—_" Quarry hissed.

"Do you want this done right or not? If you wanted a cheap job you could have gotten one. There are plenty of them out there. Would you rather that we left a trail that could be traced back to you?" James asked in the same calm tone. What Sirius called his negotiating tone. That tone alone was the reason why Sirius would never excel at the real work, the behind the curtain type work. Sirius was much too brash for that.

"At this point I just want it done," Quarry growled, a light color rising in his cheeks.

"Then do it yourself and we'll wash our hands of it and you completely," James shrugged. He closed his eyes and took another drag. He tilted his head back against the armchair and exhaled deeply. James made a small sound in the back of his throat that was a cross between a snort and a cough.

"Leave me in what you suspect to be suspense, Quarry. I am a very patient man. We could be here all night," James commented dryly to the ceiling and used one of his feet and drag an ottoman closer to him. James propped his dragon hide boots on the expensive matching ottoman and took another drag from his cigarette. On the exhale, he pulled a slightly disgusted face.

"Personally, though, the less time I spend in your company, the better. You drive me to disgusting habits," James summoned an amber glass ashtray that was settled across the room on another table.

"The feeling is mutual. Believe me, Potter," Quarry growled as he wrenched open one of the drawers in his desk and withdrew from it, after a few moments shuffling, four manila folders. He scanned through them quickly and, upon failing to locate the information he had summoned James for, searched through them in reverse order.

James sighed quietly, trying to sound bored as he silently hoped that whatever Quarry had found was enough to finish Sirius' long term assignment. They could collect the remainder of their pay off, head back to Greece, and maybe even pack to stay at a second home in Italy for a while. Or perhaps one of the various other homes that they owned, nestled in the tropics and other places around the world. He had become so absorbed in his own thoughts that he did not realize that Quarry was extracting what he had been searching for the entire time. A single paper that had been hidden in the back of the first folder.

"That's it?" James asked, staying in his reclined state. "Let's see it then."

Quarry laid the paper flat on the desk. James' hazel eyes narrowed as he scanned the paper from afar. The ends were curling and it looked discolored with age. He summoned the sheet into his awaiting hand the same way he had the ashtray and raised it to his eye level.

"I should warn you that it is rather—"

"What the hell's this supposed to be?" James cut across Quarry angrily, leaning forward over the paper, ever shrinking cigarette dangling from between his fingers.

"Coffee stained."

"Coffee stains?" James asked in disbelief, standing up and slamming the paper down on Quarry's desk. "What use is this to me?"

"I was informed it was in better condition before it got here."

"You'd better start explaining before I lose it," James snapped, running his hands through his hair.

"There was a tip off. I was informed of the existence of this sheet," Quarry nodded toward the paper, "and I naturally sent for it."

Quarry's upper lip curled in distaste. "The record was in a hospital. Something about patient privacy or other. Point is, the staff wouldn't let me have it."

"Keep going," James growled when Quarry lapsed momentarily into silence.

"I...Potter, I sent two of my men for it. Finding it proved difficult, but they found the blasted thing at last." Quarry lifted the edge of the paper slightly. "They said it looked like it had been in there a while. The type was deteriorating in places. Handwritten by the looks of the parts that could be read. Obviously _before _the...ah..._incident_."

"This little _incident _is going to end up costing you more than you know."

"One of them spilled coffee all over it as they tried to decipher the writing. Had they not decided to play detective I would have a stuffed werewolf head over my fireplace right now."

"So in other words your so called information is useless," James snapped as he paced the distance between the armchair and Quarry's desk.

"I didn't say useless," Quarry said quietly, picking up the paper and extending it toward James. "I wouldn't have alerted you of its existence if I thought it useless."

"I'll be the judge of that," James repeated and snatched the paper from Quarry.

James retreated back to the armchair while regaining control over the anger that had flooded him upon finding out that Quarry's tip off was not going to be as helpful as he had at first hoped.

_Not helpful enough to bring Sirius home, _James thought miserably as he scanned the sheet. The paper really was ruined. It looked as though someone had tried to restore it, but had only succeeded in making the paper worse. He could make out scarce more than a few numbers and letters. A couple of words jumped out at him here and there.

"What am I supposed to be reading here?" James looked over the document at Quarry. He hid his shock well when Quarry's mouth stretched into a triumphant grin.

"London."

"Yes, it's a common place."

"It's part of his address. Mind it's the only part we can read. But it's there none the less."

James squinted back at the sheet and searched for the single word. He found it, fading but visible and somewhat legible towards the center of the page.

"I hope you might find some importance in it." James rose slightly from his seat to set the paper back down on the desk and regarded Quarry with a look of utmost disinterest.

"Of course I find importance in it," James said casually as he sat back down in his armchair.

Quarry's eyes narrowed. "I don't think you do, Potter. I think you're trying to mock me."

"And I think you're the one trying to mock me, Quarry," James nearly yawned as he placed his feet on the ottoman again. "I don't think _you _can see the subtle importance and are tempting to get me to tell you the importance of it all."

"You could not be any further from the truth, I'm afraid," Quarry said with a strained smile.

"Regardless of what you say, I don't believe you. Taking pity on you, I'll tell you the importance of such a document that you happened to stumble upon. I don't think, if you had previously know the importance of such a document, that you would have let it be ruined by something as careless as _pilled coffee_."

Quarry opened his top most draw, distractedly, withdrew a pack of cigarettes, and muttered something that sounded like "late nights."

"I don't care how _late _your nights are," James spoke to his fingernails calmly. "I need several late nights if London is the best you can come up with.

"The _importance _lies in the city's location when compared to the school's," James continued without waiting for an answer from Quarry. "How many parents care enough to spend the cash and invest the time to send their werewolf child all the way to the far side of Ireland to get a little bit of an education? I mean they could Apparate, or they'd have to drive a bit, take the damn faery, then drive a bit more; that seems like a lot of travel time to me, and for what? A little bit of education when they could just leave them to rot or do it themselves? Did you know that the place isn't cheap? Something about insurance and risk hazards or some other bull like that."

"Not many, I'd reckon," Quarry mumbled with an air of thinking the matter over carefully.

"Exactly," James said with a finishing tone as he stood up slowly and moved to stand in front of Quarry's desk once more. He leaned forward and tapped the paper intently and stared into Quarry's small eyes. "All of the evidence can be collected from the students' records. There shouldn't be more than three or four that live in London during the holidays. With any luck, it will only be one."

"_The _one," Quarry murmured quietly, eyes focused on a spot over James' shoulder, an unlit cigarette

dangling from between his fingers.

A small smile curled the edges of James' lips.

"Precisely. I am glad that you got there in the end."

James turned deftly on his heel and let himself out of Quarry's office. He met no retaliation on his way out of the underground labyrinth and was relieved to be back outside to gulp lung-fulls of fresh air. James took his time navigating his way back home, hoping that this small clue would be enough to bring Sirius home. He was getting quite lonely.

– 


	21. Chapter 21

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

_It's driving me slowly insane, _Sirius thought as he sat in the armchair and clutched at the arms of it until his knuckles had turned white and bloodless. Across from him, Remus was curled into a tight ball on his couch so that he took up a minimal amount of space.

Sirius stood up uncertainly, almost nervously, and worried at his bottom lip. He debated silently for a moment and then, upon making up his mind, dragged the armchair closer to the couch so that he was sitting directly beside the younger boy.

_You're so...beautiful. _

Sirius held his breath and hesitantly reached out a shaking hand to stroke Remus' hair. At the last moment, he pulled it back jerkily and ran it through his own hair instead in some weak attempt to regain some control over himself.

_How could I ever compare you to her?_

Sirius exhaled in a way that was part sigh and part quiet laugh.

_I was only supposed to get close. I wasn't supposed to get attached. God, I wasn't supposed to want...you. I'm not supposed to _care _about you. It only makes it harder if..._

Sirius forced his mind blank. Over the past two months he had been much too absorbed with the feelings that he was experiencing for his student. Feelings that had extended much beyond a mutual friendship, as he had once liked to think of their relationship. He had become so immersed in these particular feelings that he had almost forgotten why he was at Stonegate Academy in the first place.

"There's no way," Sirius said in a small voice of disbelief. He sat back in his armchair and regarded Remus intently. "You're just too..." Sirius whispered, his voice trailing off as he was unable to find the proper word with which to complete his sentence.

"Sirius," a voice, loud and sounding as if it were extremely close, as if it were directly behind him, broke the silence. Sirius startled and jumped quickly to his feet, muscles tense, wand out, and eyes alert and searching the darkness as he spun around.

The dark room around him was empty and quiet. The echo of his name was still ringing in his ears. Sirius lowered his wand slightly and glanced over his shoulder at Remus. The interruption had not disturbed him much. The blanket had slipped off his shoulders as he had moved slightly in his sleep.

Hand still gripping tight around his wand, Sirius turned all the way around to face his student and moved the blanket so that it rested below the younger boy's chin. Remus' brow frowned, he clutched at the blanket, and then lay quite as still as before.

"_Sirius? _Are you up?"

"James?" Sirius whispered and swore quietly under his breath. He withdrew the small mirror from underneath the coffee table where it had been stowed since their last conversation.

"Do you have to be so bloody loud?" Sirius hissed as he fogged the mirror with his breath and then wiped it clean with his sleeve.

James pulled a disgusted face as Sirius' sleeve rubbed at the mirror and over his face. "I hate it when you do that. Do you have any idea what that _looks like—_"

"Shut up!" Sirius growled, peering over his shoulder anxiously and creeping as quietly as he could to his bedroom door.

"What's going on?" James asked in a quiet voice. He strained his neck forward and his eyes darted from corner to corner in an attempt to see on either side of the mirror's frame. "Where are—Hey—"

Annoyed with James' constant questioning in a voice that was not as quiet as he would have liked, Sirius had pressed the mirror tightly against his chest in hopes of muffling James' voice.

"Christ, James, what is it? Have you any idea of the _time?_" Sirius asked dryly as he held the mirror to where he could clearly see James' face and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Not really. I didn't check. Listen, Sirius, I have something really important—Must you do that while I'm here?"

"What? Oh," Sirius paused as he was in the process of taking off his shirt. "Sorry," his voice was only slightly muffled as he crossed his arms and pulled the fabric over his head. "But I can't stand it. I've started wearing clothes to bed because of—" Sirius started and then started to cough lightly.

"If you can't stand it, then why ware it in the first place?" James asked, eyes glancing at Sirius as the raven haired toyed with the drawstrings of his pajama pants. "And please leave your pants on, Sirius."

"Yeah, yeah. Trust me, James, I've no desire to strip in front of you—"

"Well, seeing how your shirt is already off—"

"Tell me, how's Appy?" Sirius asked loudly as he flicked his wand at the far wall so that none of their conversation would leak out into the living room.

James' mouth shut quickly and his cheeks colored dully. "Happy," he managed to choke out. "Happy Appy."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Happy?"

"Very."

"Better be—"

"Although I know I'd be interrupting a very well thought out threat concerning the well being of your dog, do allow me to continue."

"Important?" Sirius asked, propping the mirror on his night stand and climbing fully into bed. He laid on top of the covers and stretched until he heard an audible crack emit from his back.

"Highly."

"Well?"

"London."

Sirius blinked and regarded James with a puzzled look.

"He's in London," James pressed on quickly before he allowed Sirius to ask him to explain any further. "I just had a meeting with Quarry. Listen to this, he managed to get a whole file on the kid. Name. Everything."

Sirius felt his heart beat quicken and his mouth go dry. It was only tonight that he had started wondering about his assignment and then James appeared with just the kind of information he needed to complete it. Subconsciously, Sirius found himself wishing that it was anyone but Remus Lupin.

"Who is..."Sirius started quietly, but trailed off when he saw James shake his head.

"We don't know. All we know is that he lives in London somewhere when he's not at the school. It was under the address section. That's it. The rest is ruined."

"Ruined?" Sirius echoed, feeling oddly numb.

James gave a small sarcastic smile and shook his head. "_Ruined_. Coffee stained. One of Quarry's men spilled coffee all over it. Come to think of it, maybe Quarry himself did it. Doesn't seem like the kind of man to take responsibility for his own actions...Hey, are you all right?" James asked slowly when he realized that Sirius' eyes had gone strangely out of focus and his face wore an expression highly akin to pain.

"Oh, God. James. James, what am I going to do if it's him?"

"Mate, I don't—" James broke off when he saw a few tears welling thickly in his best friend's eyes, threatening to fall quickly. "Hey. Come on now. It's alright. What's the matter?"

"What if it's him? What if? What am I going to do? I'll have to leave. I can't stay here. I can't even stand to find out," Sirius said in a choked voice. He glanced down at his hands, they were shaking with nervousness.

"Calm down, alright?"

"Calm down, how am I supposed to calm down if..." Sirius couldn't finish his horrified sentence but instead, to James' utmost horror, started a chocked kind of hyperventilation.

"Sirius, stop. Mate, stop. Please, stop," James said helplessly, feeling so awkward at being so far away and unable to say anything but the words that could do nothing to console his best friend.

"It's this kid, James. What if it's him? I can't kill him. I just can't," Sirius hiccuped quietly and swiped angrily at his eyes. To James' great sense of relief, Sirius' panicked breathing was slowing down and his eyes were only an irritated red. The tears that had been shining in his eyes had retreated.

"You're getting too far ahead of yourself," James latched onto comforting Sirius rather than questioning him about what he was talking about, least he upset him even further.

"We have no idea what's going to happen. Don't go rushing ahead. You haven't even checked your records yet."

Sirius collapsed against the head board and ran his hands through his long hair several times. He breathed deeply several times and looked at James from between the cracks his fingers had formed as they covered his face. James thought that he had never seen Sirius look so broken before.

"I think I must be going crazy, James."

James let out his held breath in a rush of relief. Sirius' voice had lost it's desperate quality.

"Crazy? Sirius, you're not going mad, mate. It's just this place." James' eyes surveyed the edges of his frame as he observed Sirius' bedroom. "It's being locked up with a bunch of wolves—"

"Don't talk about them like that," Sirius spat, what little sorrow he had managed to retain quickly transforming into anger.

"Sorry, sorry," James said quickly, half raising his arms in his own self defense. "You'll be out of there soon, Sirius."

Sirius' eyes flashed toward the bedroom door and then flickered quickly back to the mirror. "I can't leave him. I can't kill him. What if I..." Sirius trailed off, his eyes darting nervously around the room as he wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. "What if I just take him...and...and run?"

James' mouth hung slightly open. He forced himself to close it and shook his head.

"Have you lost your mind? Run? Do you want to die?" James hissed.

"I'm going mad. I think I love him, James."

James did not reply nor react in any way. He looked solemnly back at Sirius and remained speechless.

"Love is a very strong word," James said quietly.

"I'm aware."

"I think you need to get some sleep."

"How can you expect me to sleep?"

"If you're not going to sleep, then I would suggest that you look up the records now before you worry any more." The idea seemed so simple to ease his friend's troubled conscious, James just hoped that it wouldn't backfire on him and behold bad news.

Sirius slumped against the head board, exhausted.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Sirius sighed.

"Look. Just. Just don't do anything drastic, alright. If you feel reckless...please, Sirius, please, call me. I don't want you doing anything rash."

"Nothing rash. Right," Sirius repeated dully. James fidgeted awkwardly in the silence.

"So, everything's all right now?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes," Sirius sighed. "Thanks, James. I really am tired. I'll," he half choked behind a fake yawn, "call you if I feel the need to do anything...rash. Good night, James."

"Night," James said, the connection immediately breaking off after they had said their good byes. James started at his empty mirror with an uneasy feeling creeping into the pit of his stomach.

Sirius tipped the mirror forward gently so that it lay face down on his night stand. His eyes wondered from his fingers that traced absentmindedly on the mirror to the cluttered desk that was directly opposite from his bed. Sirius' stomach clenched sickeningly as he stood up, mind flitting back and forth between the sleeping boy in the living room and his fate that was contained in the third drawer of his cluttered desk.

– 


	22. Chapter 22

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Sirius could feel his breath growing painful as he took deeper and deeper lungfuls of air. He felt the most pronounced rise and fall of his chest as he stood staring at the desk stacked high with books, papers, and other various litter. He glanced at the mirror that was face down on the night stand, wishing that he was not so entirely and utterly alone. Sirius' eyes flickered, tormentingly, from the writing desk to the closed and silenced door that led into the rest of his private quarters.

_I'm not alone_, he thought as he exhaled slowly and started for the door. He found his way to where Remus was curled on the couch, still undisturbed.

Sirius felt goosebumps erupt along his forearms as he thought about how Remus was so peacefully asleep while his life might be in jeopardy. He was not able to bring himself to do anything other than watch the younger boy sleep.

Out of need to give his shaking hands something to do, Sirius picked up the stone cold coffee mug and sipped tentatively at it's rim without even really tasting the drink. Suspense slowly killing him, and unable to find anything else with which to occupy his mind and physical body with, Sirius set the coffee mug down and forced himself to look anywhere but at Remus.

His mind numb, Sirius allowed his feet to take him back to his bedroom. Sirius closed the door, silenced it with his wand again, and locked it. Sirius riffled through the third drawer in a kind of frenzied panic. He found on the very bottom what he had been searching for. He withdrew the small black notebook that he had carried with him at all times during the first month, making all the required notes of the activities of all of his supposed suspects at Stonegate Academy.

Sirius flipped through its pages quickly. It only took a few hurried glances at the first few entries for Sirius to realize that he had not recorded any such information about where any of the suspects lived. He flipped to the very back where he knew Remus was listed as it had taken him a long time to really find anything out about the boy that had moved on to ensnare him completely.

Reading through all of the collected information, Sirius quickly saw that he had not written down where the boy lived, not thinking it important at the time.

_Stupid, stupid, _Sirius thought savagely to himself as he slammed the notebook back into the drawer and slammed it shut. _This is so amateur, I should have written down _everything _about him. Not just what I thought to be important._

Sirius' eyes traveled from the drawer with his useless notes to the one below it. He wrenched it open so forcefully that the entire drawer was jerked out of the desk and landed solidly on the floor at his feet. Sirius swore and struggled to get it back on the track so that it would slide back into the desk easily.

_Why didn't I write it down?_

The very first thing he had done when he had arrived at Stonegate had been to locate the school's record room, not his private quarters, as he had been instructed. It had been easy enough, Sirius had known what type of school the Academy was before he had completed his walk to the headmaster's office. Neat and orderly, very structured, as if apologetic for the fact that the students that learned there were anything but systematic and perfect.

Following sensible reason, Sirius had been able to locate the record room easily, it had been stationed in a very authoritative hall along with such rooms labeled Clinic and something daunting just called Office. While, on the outside, the school wanted to represent itself as being an orderly institution where all things were logical and where the Office and the Clinic were located down the same sensible hallway as the Record's Room, on the inside of the rooms, away from prying eyes, was another matter entirely.

The Record's Room was exactly what it claimed to be, a room full of the records of the student's in attendance at Stonegate Academy. Unfortunately, it was not the Record's Room where everything had been filed away into tall filing cabinets. Instead, piles upon piles of precariously stacked documents had greeted him as he felt for a light switch on the wall. The bare light bulb over head flickered into life unenthusiastically, spreading a dull light on the careless stacks.

Sirius had spent the better part of three hours sorting out the useless from the useful. Stonegate Academy issued the same standard file to every one of its students. Name, not listed last name followed by first because that was only necessary when filing for organization, home address, and, if applicable, Floo call number and district, or telephone number.

In the end, Sirius had searched through every last file, only coming away with a few useful bits of information in the end, usually found in the ominous other column. Even though he doubted if anyone would notice their absence, he had made a copy of each and filed them away in the bottom drawer of his own desk. The files had held such scarce information that Sirius had doubted that they would be of much use.

Now, some near six months later, those seemingly useless personal records had the power to decide which of his students lived and which one perished.

_Somebody please be on my side, _Sirius prayed, the first time he could ever remember doing so as he extended a numb hand to clench around the cold handle of the drawer. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

_Maybe if I don't look, it won't come true. What I don't know can't hurt me. And it can't hurt him, _Sirius thought foolishly, the suspense of the whole situation him slowly mad.

He pulled the drawer open and felt his heart beat painfully against his chest. Sirius' gray eyes roved over the tops of the files. They traveled so fast that they did not catch Remus' name and Sirius was lost to his panic. He grabbed at the first file in front of him in a frenzy, glancing at the name briefly before discarding it to the floor without a second glance.

Sirius went through this process until, desperate, he came upon Remus' file. His hands shook as he scanned to the third line of the written document. Sirius didn't even absorb the full address. Simply the harmful word London. The rushing sound that had filled his ears was quickly replaced with a deadly silence.

The thin sheet of paper fluttered to the floor and Sirius followed it shortly, collapsing in the heap of papers that were even more disorganized than those that he had searched through in the Record's Room so long ago.

"No," he said quietly, first to himself and then to the door.

"No, no, no," he said, each denial growing stronger and louder than the one that had preceded it.

With a crazed sense of desperation, Sirius clawed through the remaining records, hoping to find that more than just Remus resided in London. He over looked the first one in his haste. When he glanced quickly at it for a second time, Sirius recognized the similar death sentence.

Clawing through the rest of the documents, Sirius held four in his hands. Three of which belonged to boys that Sirius had in class and knew quite well. And while he would not want to be the reason to end their lives, he hoped that it was one of the three over the fourth that he held in his other hand.

Sirius staggered to his feet, clutching at Remus' file so that it crinkled and creased in his tight fist. He dropped the other three so that they scattered about him, falling slowly to the floor. He opened his bedroom door with a slightly steadier hand, much steadier, indeed, than he felt.

Remus, still quite asleep and curled into a tight ball, had managed to push the fleece blanket that Sirius had covered him with to the floor. That had been earlier in the night, what seemed like so long ago now. His face was calm, oblivious to the fact that Sirius held a potential death sentence for him in his hand. Swallowing hard, Sirius approached him and knelt beside the low couch. His fingers were clenched so tightly around the record that they dug deeply into the flesh of his palm.

Uncaring of the physical pain that his fingernails were causing, Sirius gripped the file and stroked the hair off of Remus' forehead.

"I'm going to fix this," Sirius whispered to the sleeping boy.

He hesitated slightly and bent forward to kiss the younger boy on the lips. Remus shifted slightly, and to Sirius' imagination, his eyes fluttered slightly. The werewolf shifted toward the older man's body and sighed in contentment. Sirius' stomach turned and he felt extremely sick.

He forced himself not to think about how ironic it would be if Remus was curling up to his potential murderer, content, trusting, and completely oblivious.

–


	23. Chapter 23

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

"I hate this," Remus moaned and chewed on Sirius' fingers.

Sirius winced inwardly and hoped that Remus hadn't noticed. The werewolf's teeth ached seemingly all time, and yet seemingly more so right before the full moon. Between the slow change from Remus' god given teeth to the razor sharp canines that he was now chewing on Sirius' fingers with, and then the equally slow change back, his teeth seemed to hurt constantly.

Sirius shifted his weight so that Remus molded more comfortably into the curve of his body.

"I know," Sirius said with a calm tone and stroked Remus' hair. "Are you ready to go yet?"

Remus whined deep in his throat and shook his head. He heard the fabric of Sirius' shirt rip as he tugged relentlessly to relieve the pain in his teeth. He looked at Sirius apologetically with wide eyes and began to chew on his own fingers instead.

"I knew the risks when I let you start," Sirius said sharply as he coaxed Remus to continue chewing on his already ruined shirt. "Don't worry, these are my play clothes," Sirius added with a laugh when he noticed that Remus was reluctant to continue chewing on his ripped sleeve.

"I don't play nice," Remus growled and the shirt ripped further.

Sirius watched him with a mild sense of amusement and was glad that he hadn't worn anything that he felt emotionally attached to. He had to focus on studying the features of Remus' body to keep his mind from wondering to the fateful night when he had learned about the importance of the city of London. He was thankful that his method to distract himself from such dark things still worked.

"You're staring again," Remus said around the sleeve in his mouth and pressed the tip of Sirius' nose with a mock accusatory finger. "You've been doing that a lot lately. I'm not sure if I should be unnerved or flattered."

Sirius gently pulled his destroyed sleeve from Remus' mouth and ignored the werewolf's whine of protest.

"Hush," Sirius said quietly, kissing Remus on the mouth. He kept it short, in case Remus thought chewing on his lip would help his teeth. "You should be flattered, Rem. Come on, up you get."

Remus sighed, trying to hide the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks. Sirius had been sneaking kisses here and there, but each one still made him feel amazingly happy and embarrassed at the same time. He stood up and the self defense teacher had to steady him as he swayed on his feet.

"We're cutting it kind of close," Sirius muttered as he helped lead Remus out of the room and down the hall.

Remus remained silent and concentrated on watching his feet move least he take a wrong step and fall. Sirius pulled him aside, glancing up and down the hallway to ensure their privacy, and pecked him once on the forehead and once on the cheek. He apprehensively eyed the door over Remus' shoulder where the rest of the school was already gathered.

"Ready?

"You're staying with me, right?" Remus asked in a quiet voice as he clutched at Sirius' arm to hold himself steady.

"Yeah."

Remus could only nod as Sirius led him into the hall where the rest of the werewolves were waiting. Some were in a similar state as Remus, clutching their heads or slumped against the walls. Still others, were acting as instigators, picking on the smaller boys and bearing their teeth like their four legged counterparts. The staff gathered at the head of the room watched them uneasily, none willing to break up any of the fights that were threatening to start nor the few that had already begun.

"Stay by me," Sirius whispered as he joined his place by the rest of the teachers. Wilton raised his eyebrows as he regarded Sirius.

"Professor Black, why so late?"

"I got caught up with something. Urgent. My sincerest apology," Sirius said with a bow of his head. He had to bite his tongue from saying something harsher to the headmaster as he wanted to keep as much attention as he possibly could from Remus and himself.

Wilton looked between the two of them with a scowl.

"You think I don't know that something's up between the two of you," the headmaster growled quietly so as to keep eavesdropping staff and students out of the conversation. "And here I didn't pin you as the sort to go after animals, Black."

Sirius wondered if these where the types of rash things that James had warned him against as he considered punching the other man. Remus tugged insistently on his arm and Sirius forced his face to remain as blank and as smooth as a polished stone.

"Can't say that I am."

Wilton pursed his lips and had half opened his mouth with a sharp retort on the tip of his tongue when one of the teachers from behind him began to speak.

"Douglas, how much longer are we going to stand here? It's not like it's going to get any easier the longer we wait."

Wilton closed his mouth and nodded curtly. "Black, you come with me. We're going on ahead."

Sirius swore quietly and Remus fidgeted nervously beside him. Sirius glanced at him and then at the students around them.

"I have to go. I'll see you down there, okay? Will you be okay?"

Remus looked up at him with a small smile. "You act as if I've never done this alone before," he said with a hint of defiance.

Sirius sighed and glanced back at Remus before following Wilton's retreating back. He couldn't help but feel slightly smug as he watched as the students gave Wilton a hard time by refusing to move out of his way. They created barriers and hassled the headmaster while, at the same time, easily parting to allow Sirius passage. He chanced a last look back at Remus, but the crowd had already consumed the other boy.

–

Remus watched Sirius leave him for as long as he could until he was unable to see him anymore. The werewolf swayed on his feet and wished that Wilton had not taken Sirius away from him. He accidentally reached out and grabbed onto one of his classmate's shoulders to steady himself as he nearly fell over.

"Sorry," he mumbled and the boy turned on him with hate in his eyes.

"Who are you grabbing at?" The younger boy growled.

"I said sorry," Remus snapped, temper flaring almost immediately.

"Sorry isn't good enough. Give me one reason why I shouldn't—"

"I can give you five," Remus hissed and clenched his fist at his side.

"Hey! We're supposed to be working together! Not fighting amongst ourselves," another boy, the one who had been talking to the boy that Remus had grabbed, interrupted. The boy, tall with a swelling back eye, continued in a quieter voice and jerked his head toward the head of the hall, "That's what they want."

Remus and the boy who he'd been quarreling with glanced toward the teachers and started to shuffle forward as they were led out of the hall and toward the cages on the sub-level of the school.

"You're right," the boy Remus had grabbed onto sighed. "We have to work together if everything's going to go according to plan."

"What plan?" Remus asked as the three of them squeezed through the doors and started down the hallway. Remus shifted to the left slightly to avoid an elbow as they walked tightly together. He stumbled slightly and the blond with the black eye wearily supported Remus' weight on his own shoulder.

"Nobody's told you?" He asked cautiously and then, as an afterthought to clarify his own judgment, "Well, there where still those that were unaware."

Remus shook his head. "No. Or if they did, I must not have recognized it for what it was."

The blond laughed quietly. "If someone told you, you'd know what we were talking about." He paused and bit his lower lip. "We're planning a breakout," the blond finished quietly, his voice almost inaudible.

The blond's companion supported Remus on his other side as they came to a flight of stairs that would lead them into the sub-levels. He swallowed hard and watched his feet as he talked, nervous about missing a step, even with the extra help in navigating his way.

"You mean...break out of school?"

"Something like that," the blond answered slowly.

Remus' head snapped up, his carefully measured steps forgotten. He had a horrified look on his face as comprehension dawned on him.

"You mean...down there? _Tonight?_" Remus whispered.

"That's the plan," he said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He held up one of his pale hands and showed Remus the cut and burnt tips of his fingers. He had dried blood beneath his fingernails.

"We went down last night to work on the screws. We loosened them up so that when we transform—"

The boy that Remus had first grabbed for support finished with a cracking noise.

"But...we can't. There are people—" Remus started, his horror giving way to disbelief.

"Will they deserve anything less?" The blond asked, an undertone of a growl creeping into his voice.

"We'll kill—"

"Shut up! That's the point," the other werewolf said quickly, jabbing an elbow into Remus' stomach.

Remus paled as they came upon the room lined with row after row of cages. All of which had had their screws loosened to make it possible for the werewolf inside to escape and wreak havoc. He looked around desperately for Sirius and was then shepherded into one of the deficient cages before he could search for very long.

He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of the vision of carnage.

–

Sirius drummed his fingers impatiently against the control panel that controlled all of the cameras on the sub-basement level. He scanned the screens repeatedly, sometimes taking a second longer to study one, sometimes readjusting the camera angle, zooming in to double check if one of the students being man handled into the cages had been Remus.

He growled loudly and readjusted the cameras again when he still couldn't find any sign of Remus anywhere.

"Come on, come on," he muttered, scanning each of the seventeen screens quickly and then at a slower rate.

He sighed in frustration and changed the angle of camera number thirteen. Excitement and foreboding rushing through his veins, Sirius leaned so close to the screen that his nose was almost pushed flush against it. Remus had been placed in row twenty, cell 2C, on the right hand side. Sirius swore under his breath as he watched the surrounding cages fill quickly and as Remus began to chew on his fingers.

He watched as the younger boy looked wildly about him and figured that Remus must be searching for him. He felt a sudden rush of hatred toward Wilton for having assigned him to handle all of the behind closed door monitoring work "in case something were to go wrong," as the headmaster had phrased it.

_Dammit, I volunteered to scout the rows, _Sirius thought and clenched his teeth together in anger. _Probably why I got stuck here._

Sirius switched all of the cameras around Remus so that they were able to film him from eight different angles. He started to close his fingers into fists as he saw the headmaster approach the row in which Remus was caged.

–

Remus wrapped his hands around the bars of his cage and leaned forward, they were enough to hold his meager weight at the moment but wouldn't be enough to hold a fully grown werewolf. The spaces that the bars created, crossed first horizontally and then vertically, were big enough to allow him to poke his nose through.

"Mr. Wilton," Remus called weakly down the row. He watched as Wilton paused and narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Wilton, please," Remus said, his voice hoarse.

Wilton turned away from him and walked down another row. Remus felt angry, knowing the headmaster was ignoring him because of his affiliation with Sirius, a man who Wilton openly hated. He watched Wilton's progress and was forced to sit down when the muscles in his legs quivered and refused to hold his weight. Remus had to use all of his remaining strength to pull himself up by clutching the bars of his cage as he saw Wilton turn down his row once again.

The pain in his teeth was at it's most intense height, his fingers and ears twitched, usually the first signs of his transformation. Mr. Wilton approached him slowly, his face set into a cold mask. His gaze was focused straight ahead and his lips had formed a thin line.

Remus wished he could scream, the headmaster was focusing so much on his resentment and hatred for Sirius and his new pet that he wasn't even checking the gates of the cages to make sure that they were securely shut.

"What's wrong?" Wilton asked calmly, face set and unfeeling as Remus collapsed again, holding his head in his hands. "Not feeling well?"

"You fool," Remus hissed, squeezing his eyes shut and digging his fingers into his hair. "You daft fool. Do you realize what kind of mistake you've made? Do you even know what you've done?" Remus groaned painfully and laid down on his side. He curled his knees to his chest and bit his fingers hard.

"Yes, I do."

"You don't," Remus panted and was unable to say anything more as the transformation overtook him and the others completely.

Moony, the funny little name his father had given him that had always made him smile as a young child, awakened fully in his mind, breaking through all of the carefully constructed barriers of his psyche, with a snarl.

–

Moony shook his head, his body not aching the way Remus' had for a whole week leading up to the moon, and his teeth finally felt natural and at ease. His nostrils flared and his body went rigid. Moony raised his head slowly, his ears lying flat on his head and the fur along his spine stood on end.

Wilton was still directly outside of his cage, the same cold look dominating his facial features, as he had watched Remus collapse and transform. Moony snarled and threw himself at the bars, snapping his jaws only a foot from Wilton's face.

"The only mistake that I can see here is that your father didn't choose to have you put down," Wilton said, ignoring the wolves around him that were growling and straining to reach him, focusing solely on the one before him.

He withdrew his wand from the interior pocket of his robes and tapped it lightly on Moony's nose. The wolf jumped back in surprise, sneezing continuously and rubbing at his nose with his paw.

Wilton replaced his wand and turned around with the intention of joining Sirius in the observation room for the remainder of the night. He had barely managed to take two steps when he heard the ripping of steel hinges. Wilton turned his head to glance over his shoulder, only to be pushed to the ground as two hundred pounds of muscle tackled him from behind.

Moony was only confused for a moment, the cage that had never opened before was now laying in pieces at his feet, before he started clawing at Wilton's back. The headmaster screamed and scrambled for his wand. He tried to turn over for a better chance to push the wolf off of him. Moony retaliated by biting the man's shoulder to better hold him in place. Wilton screamed again, this time in pain and utter panic.

The headmaster was so absorbed that he did not notice the repeated sounds of ripping steel as all of the other werewolves followed Moony and pushed the doors of their cages off. They ran and mixed in the narrow corridors between the rows of cages, snapping at one another and ramming their shoulder against one another. A few paused to sniff and bite and Wilton, but Moony bared his teeth at them and pushed them away. Annoyed, the others skirted around the fallen man, instead making a collective surge for the only doors that led to and from the room.

Wilton managed to free his wand and blasted the wolf that was now sniffing loudly in his ear away. Moony yelped in surprise as he skidded down the hallway, knocking into the few stragglers that were still pushing toward the door.

They growled at him and nipped at his ears, but Moony took no notice of them. He scrambled to his feet instead, running at Wilton. The headmaster produced a shield between the two of them but yelled in dismay as Moony bounced off of it, the impact shattering his only defensive measure.

Moony shook his head, as if trying to rid water from his ears or to disturb a fly, and charged again.

–


	24. Chapter 24

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

-

Sirius had never been much for running before. He had always been much more of a flier during his days in school. Now it didn't seem to matter. Now running and flying seemed much of the same thing. They had to be; he was flying, and yet his feet never really left the ground.

He couldn't figure out why they had put the room full of the security cameras so far away from the actual room that was being monitored.

_This is so surreal. This can't be happening,_ Sirius thought numbly, rounding a corner in the hallway and almost slipping down the stairs that descended into the sub floors of the building.

This looked nothing like all of those movies he had seen as a child. The kind of movies that made him the rebellious type, in his parents' eyes. The Muggle movies had fascinated him, quite truly. They had been so unlike any live performances, a typical pureblood event, he had seen with his parents. It had always been like watching a boring reconstruction of the wonderful moving pictures that could be watched virtually anywhere and at nearly any time, granted it was in the right time slot.

The mass break that had taken place moments after Moony's own surprised one had been chaotic and, nearly, as if it had been orchestrated.

_It almost feels as if they planned it._

The thought made his flesh crawl uncomfortably. Sirius knew, realistically, that it was impossible for every single cage to become dysfunctional at the same time. He understood, unlike many of the other staff, that these students were not as dumb as they were made out to be.

_They're intuitive, and cunning, and resourceful,_ Sirius mentally listed, breathing heavily and reaching for his wand.

He skidded to a halt in front of the steel door that guarded the wolves on the other side of it. Sirius made a sweeping arch in the air, reciting the spell mentally that would make the door as transparent as a sheet of glass. He inhaled sharply and took a step back.

There was blood, dark and fresh, sliding slowly down the door. It seemed to make everything he saw tinged red. He yelled in surprise as a black wolf threw himself against the door, eyes read and ropes of saliva trailing from his mouth to mat heavily in the fur around his neck. In his haste, Sirius had forgotten that, although the door was now as clear as glass, it was still indeed steel. Heart pounding painfully, Sirius looked beyond the wolves digging and ramming against the door and searched for Wilton.

A white wolf at the door twitched and turned sharply. The brown and bloody wolf behind him was gnawing on a human arm savagely and had knocked into the other in his frenzy. In retaliation, the white wolf grabbed the arm and tugged fiercely. Sirius felt sick as the two pulled the already ripped limb apart, the severed tendons swinging uselessly, the bone jagged where it had splintered. The blood showed up clearly on the white wolf and he scampered away, holding his half of the arm by the fingers of the hand.

Hand holding tight to his wand to prevent it from shaking, Sirius tried to remember how many had been patrolling the rows before the transformation. He jumped as another wolf, bigger than the others, probably topping the scales at three-hundred pounds easily, lunged at the door. The door rattled in its hinges and the wolf howled in rage.

_Patrolling? Only one really, Wilton. But there were four more, lounging in the corner. Damn, this could have all been avoided if they'd just checked the doors like they were supposed to._

The room was simply too big. He couldn't see every inch of it like he had to in order to find Wilton or any of the others. There were too many blind spots and too many wolves to see anything very clearly. Growing more anxious with every passing second, Sirius glanced wildly around the room for some other option. On the wall to the right of the door was a vent. He sized it up before determining that he might have to squeeze, but he thought he could make it.

He spelled the vent off, the screws braking with a snapping noise. Sirius transfigured the fallen vent into a step ladder and climbed to the top of it. He peered into the dark space and then charmed the bottom of the shaft transparent, much the same way he had the door, so that he could search better. Sirius pulled himself into the vent, forcing his shoulders to fit, and used his forearms to pull himself forward.

It was extremely frightening, to be able to see the carnage directly below him. The blood that was spilled on the floor was impressive, covering expansive areas. For a fleeting moment, he thought in his panic if the students had seen this far ahead and had fixed the vent to give way at a certain point. Directly on top of that, he wondered if Remus had had anything to do with the whole thing.

–

Douglas Wilton wondered how much longer he could keep this up. He had managed to distract most of the wolves by conjuring three dozen bright yellow canaries. Most of them had fallen for it, snapping and chasing the birds, leaving him with an opportunity to try and scramble on top of the cages for a semblance of safety. All but one had fallen for his little ruse.

The wolf that had been Remus Lupin was utterly determined. He had pushed past the others impatiently as the other wolves rushed by to snap at the canaries. Wilton, hands slippery with sweat and blood, had started to pull himself up with the one good arm that had not been mangled. He was almost on the top of the cage when Moony grabbed at his leg, snarling and shaking his head violently.

Wilton yelled and kicked backwards as hard as he could. He felt his foot connect with something solid and used that momentum to push himself up again.

Moony yelped, his neck twisting painfully from the force of the kick. He recovered quickly, yet his slight lapse was enough to give Wilton the head start he so desperately needed. Moony braced his front paws against the bars of the cage and snapped at the brown loafers that were only inches from his snout. He craned his neck forward, struggling to reach the man that was so close to him, and yet continued to remain just far enough out of his reach.

The headmaster of Stonegate was forced to take an unbalanced step toward the tawny wolf as a red one from behind him snapped viciously at his heals. He volleyed back and forth between the two several times before losing his balance. Wilton had to bend down and support himself with the palm of his hand so that he could not fall completely off of the cage.

Moony lunged even before he could straighten up. He latched onto the man's vulnerable fingers and tore at them. Wilton screamed, jerking his hand away. The wolf was latched so firmly that he heard the sicking taring noise as two of his fingers were separated from the remainder of this hand. He looked at the place where his fingers used to be and felt himself pale at the sight of blood and the exposed bone.

"Wilton! Hey! Up here!"

Moony froze at the sound of a human voice and he lifted his nose high in the air, sniffing for the source. His ears laid back against his head and he looked directly over the headmaster's head, snarling. He had seen Sirius before the headmaster could.

Although Moony had seen Sirius, he did not let that distract him from the man who had made his nose feel so funny. He refocused on Wilton and jumped once more.

Sirius vanished a section from the vent and peered down at Wilton.

"Black, get me out of here!" The headmaster yelled, hysterical.

"I'm working on it," Sirius growled lowly, pointing his wand at the wolves surrounding the stranded man. "Just stay calm, okay?"

"Calm? Easy for you to say! They bit me!"

Sirius felt his stomach grow cold but ignored it and Wilton's hysterical yelling to concentrate instead on finding the appropriate frequency. He increased it little by little until a loud whine came from one of the wolves below.

The red one at Wilton's heals has retreated when the high frequency had started ringing painfully in his ears. It whined and backed away, ears low and tail tucked between its legs. Sirius readjusted by another degree and the wolf gave up its prey, turning instead and running toward the other end of the hall.

A twenty foot radius had been cleared around Wilton so that all that remained was Moony, crying in discomfort, but still trying to get to Wilton. He bowed his head in pain and then, with new determination, placed his back paw on the bottom bars of the cage that crossed each other vertically and horizontally.

_Shit_, Sirius thought, placing his wand between his teeth, lying flat on his stomach, and reaching his hands out to Wilton.

"Come on!" He yelled around the wand in his mouth, gripped hard at Wilton's hand with one hand and used his other to take his wand from between his lips to preform a sticking charm on their linked hands.

_I'm taking a risk if this doesn't work,_ Sirius thought as he braced himself on his heels and began to pull Wilton to safety.

He heard the thin floor of the vent below groan and quickly unstuck their hands when he was positive that Wilton was fully in the shaft. He aimed a charm at the floor to temporarily strengthen it and started forward as quickly as he could.

"Come on!" He yelled and his voice echoed in the small space. "I don't know how much longer this is going to last."

Wilton struggled, his shoulder throbbing from where it had been savaged, the place where his fingers had been painful, and his leg uselessly dragging behind him. Sirius forced his way through the opening in the vent again and then turned to help Wilton through. The man's face was extremely pale, Sirius wondered how much blood he had lost, and his lips were trembling. Sirius pulled him the rest of the way, muttering quick apologies as Wilton's shoulders were squeezed painfully through the vent.

"Black, I—"

"No time," Sirius snapped, pushing Wilton toward the stairs and turning to follow him.

Sirius felt the sparse hairs on the back of his neck rise and turned around to look back inside the vent. His insides froze with fear as he heard claws scrapping at the floor of the vent.

_Dammit._

"Black—"

"Move!" Sirius screamed, coming up behind the headmaster.

Wilton collapsed against the stairs, unable to move. Sirius' feet snapped themselves to a stop and he looked at Wilton with absolute terror in his eyes.

"You go. I'll—"

"No, come on. We have to hurry," Sirius spoke quickly, cutting off the older man's suggestion and lifting him onto his back. "Help me out, yeah?" Sirius said as he ran up the stairs with the headmaster on his protesting back. He was thankful for the extra burst of strength his adrenaline had given him. "And hold on tight."

"Okay," the headmaster said weakly.

–

Moony struggled through the hole in the wall and paced around the perimeter of the room. He sniffed the ground, decoding the thousands of different smells there until he found the one he was looking for. The wolf growled and bolted for the stairs that led upward.

He picked his way up them carefully, still smelling the trail that would lead him to the man he was searching for. His ears twitched as he heard the sound of claws scrambling on the floor behind him. Another dozen wolves followed him up the staris, some rushing past him, the others clumsy with the staris.

When he reached the top of the staris, he watched as some of the other wolves that had followed him broke at random, some running down the right fork and others down the left one. Growling, moony hunted for the familiar scent.

He found it, but it was a faint one, as if it were trying to be masked, or an old one. He circled again and found it again, a fresh scent, near the right fork. He followed it until it made and sharp turn and proceeded down the left fork. Moony's ears pressed flat agaisnt his head in annoyance and he loped down the left fork in the hall.

—


	25. Chapter 25

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

-

"They're going to kill us, aren't they?" Wilton moaned as Sirius struggled up another flight of stairs.

"Shut up, Wilton," Sirius panted. His legs were becoming more unsteady with every step he climbed. "Which way was it?"

"There's a ladder. Right at the top of these stairs."

Relieved and frightened at the same time, Sirius concentrated on the last remaining steps. He cleared the top and then looked anxiously at the ceiling, fingers tightening around Wilton's thighs in an attempt to hold the headmaster aloft for just a short while longer.

"Where is it, Wilton?"

"What?" Wilton groaned in pain again and turned his sweaty face upward to the ceiling. "Oh, I could have sworn it was on this floor...We used to put them up there when they were misbehaving...Or maybe the renovations were on the fourth floor—"

Sirius' stomach plummeted, fresh dread sweeping through him. Expecting to be pounced upon at any moment, he glanced left and right down the hallway and then back down the stairs. "Think," he hissed, "Where _is it_—"

"Oh, yes. It was on the last floor," the headmaster wheezed faintly.

"Great," Sirius inhaled deeply and looked back down the flight of stairs that he had just barely managed to tackle.

He lifted Wilton a little higher on his shoulders and clenched his teeth against the pain from his aching and objecting back. Not voicing his apologies as the headmaster yelped in pain for fear of wasting any precious breath that he would need on his descent, Sirius stepped onto the topmost stair. Carefully, least his unsteady legs cause them to tumble down the stairs, he started down them as quickly and quietly as possible.

Gray eyes darting about for any signs that they were no longer alone, Sirius lowered Wilton from his back and glanced at the ceiling. The headmaster slumped against him, breathing heavily and clutching at the elbow of his mangled arm. Sirius searched for the faint outline in the ceiling that would point to the small crawlspace that had been in use before an additional floor had been added to the school to house those werewolves that were younger and those that would come to live at Stonegate Academy all year round.

Keeping his eyes on the entrances to the landing, no mere feat with four of them, Sirius started to spell the trap door open. He sensed rather than heard the wolf at the bottom of the stairs.

_They're trying to be quiet and sneak up on us, _Sirius thought in his panic as he nodded toward Wilton and placed a finger against his lips. The hand gripped tight around his wand started to sweat and Sirius jerked his head toward the half concealed door in the ceiling. Wilton's hands shook as he started to charm the door open.

The trap door opened with a loud bang as it swung violently open, causing Sirius to jump. He whirled around, screaming at Wilton and brandishing his wand.

"Go, now! _Hurry!_"

The fast clicking of claws echoed in the hallway and the single tawny and gray topped the stairs with a snarl. Behind him, Sirius could hear Wilton's labored breath as he struggled to climb the rope ladder that had fallen from the crawlspace above.

_Shit,_ Sirius thought as the wolf eyed him briefly before turning its attention toward the headmaster. As the wolf moved, Sirius instinctively moved between it and Wilton.

Moony growled at him, displeased with being kept from his prey, and snapped his jaws threateningly.

_It's two toned. This one's Remus_.

Sirius had noticed it before during other transformations. Remus was only one of three wolves that were distinctly two toned in color; the others were mostly solids and the other two wolves were black and brown.

His mouth went dry and he started talking to the wolf out of nervousness and at a need to take some kind of action.

"Remus. Hey, boy."

The wolf growled louder and his ears flattened in annoyance. His eyes glanced over Sirius impatiently and focused instead on Wilton. The man's heavy breathing told Sirius that he had a lot more stalling to do, as he was probably only half way up the ladder.

_If you fall, we're both screwed,_ Sirius thought in a panic as Moony took a slow step forward. Subconsciously, he strained his ears for the sound of any other approaching werewolves. He couldn't hear anything beyond the wolf's—_Remus'?—_growling.

"Where you going, buddy?" Sirius asked, his voice louder than normal out of fear, as the wolf took another step forward.

Moony hardly glanced at him as his muscles started to tense as if preparing to spring forward.

Sirius glanced over his shoulder at the same time that Wilton called his name weakly. The headmaster had disappeared from the rope ladder, his profile was only just visible from the darkness of the hidden landing. Moony snarled in anger and his tight muscles propelled him forward like a deadly projectile.

Sirius twisted around violently, a hoarse scream ripping from his throat as the wolf now directed all of its energy toward him, the cause for the escaped prey. He stumbled backwards and quickly brought his wand down with a slashing motion. A fiery rope curled out of the tip of his wand, wrapping a circle around the wolf, creating a high barrier between the two of them.

Moony whined in pain as the fire burnt him before he could stop in time. He growled, swiping at his singed whiskers and muzzle in pain.

Feeling sympathetic with a painfully beating heart, Sirius moved closer, craning his neck to see properly over the flickering flames. The wolf had subtly managed to move itself furthest from the flames protecting Sirius. The wizard could tell from his stance and eyes that he was preparing an attempt to jump the flames.

Sirius' eyes widened in panic and they both started to move at the same time. Moony bolted, hunched back slightly on his powerful hind legs and lunging up and forward the clear the flames that grazed against the underside of his belly. Sirius ran two long strides and jumped for the dangling ladder.

He managed to grab the third rung and cursed to himself as the rope ladder evaded his kicking feet. He climbed it more with his arms than he did with his feet, his hands grabbing and pulling and his feet kicking wildly below him.

As Sirius managed to pull himself up, he felt the wolf's teeth sink into the heel of his boot. He screamed and, on sole determination, pulled himself through the hole in the ceiling and out of the deadly grasp. Wilton, as soon as he cleared the ladder, severed the rope with his wand so that it fell in a heap to the floor below.

Moony growled as the rope ladder fell on him, entangling him. He snapped his way free and crouched back on his haunches. When he leaped upward his snout was only a foot from the opening in the ceiling and from both Sirius and the headmaster, Mr. Wilton. Shanking, Sirius pulled himself further away from the trap door.

"Close it," he hissed at Wilton, prying off his boot where the wolf had latched onto him.

He hoped that this wasn't the end, wasn't a vulnerable Achilles' heel. Heart pounding, he stripped off the sock and lit the tip of his wand. He scanned the flesh throughly, looking for even the smallest indention. His heel, apart from quivering with the rest of his body, was completely unharmed. His boot, on the other hand, would never be functional again.

"God, that was a close one—" Sirius started quietly, relieved.

Stealing a sidelong glance at Wilton, he nearly sliced his tongue in two for trying to close his mouth so quickly.

Wilton was staring at his hand where his fingers used to be. Below them, the wolf's pacing and growling was highly audible as they were completely silent, both of them contemplating on the changes those missing digits implied.

Wilton's head turned slowly, his eyes disregarding Sirius as he looked at his mangled leg where Moony had bitten him and had tried to prevent his harrowed escape. His head turned again, slower this time, with a certain measure of deliberateness, and he looked at his own shoulder. To the first bite that had already condemned him.

Sirius' mouth went dry and he suddenly felt very guilty for being so relieved that he had escaped from such a fate by, quite actually, the very heel of his boot. He wasn't entirely sure what to say to the headmaster, so settled for a moment of silence to give the man some room and privacy. Or at least as much privacy as could be afforded in such a small space.

"I...gone. All gone," Wilton said in a relatively calm voice for a man whose whole life had changed more dramatically and drastically than he could comprehend.

"Sir, are you alright?" Sirius asked quietly. The seriousness of the situation could be remarked upon by how much respect Sirius was granting the headmaster of Stonegate Academy.

"I'm...like them? Aren't I?" He asked, staring at his hand once more.

Sirius moved closer to the other man discreetly, choosing to ignore the sound of more clicking nails below and what sounded like a mild scrabble with lots of growling and only a little yelping.

_Remus, be okay._

"Why don't you let me try and fix you up?" Sirius asked, drawing his wand closer to his side and directing his lighting charm to light the entire small space so that he could use his wand more freely to heal some of Wilton's wounds.

"Stay back!" Wilton yelled, himself jumping a foot away from Sirius. Sirius held up his hands as a sign of peace and no ill intention meant.

"Why don't you just try to stay calm. I'm going to help you—"

"Help!" Wilton barked, his voice gaining strength from the hysteria. "There's no help for people like me! I'm done. I'm as good as dead."

"This isn't impossible. Maybe it's not as bad as it looks," Sirius lied, edging closer again.

"Don't try to lie to me," Wilton roared, spittle flying from his mouth and his eyes large and deranged. "I know what's going to happen to me! Them! I'm going to be one of them!" He yelled, jabbing his hand that was missing two fingers at the door in the floor that was between the both of them.

"I won't do it. I'm not going to let that happen," Wilton said and then laughed shortly. His good hand searched in his torn robes, at last withdrawing his wand.

Sirius felt a new kind of panic rush over him. A panic that made his heart race anew and instilled a similar kind of fear as did the snarling wolves below.

"Mr. Wilton, let's not do anything rash—"

"This is the most sensible thing I can do. Don't you see that?" The headmaster hissed, his hand clumsily clutching at his wand. He contemplated shortly and then brought it level with his own heart.

"Put it down!" Sirius screamed, his own wand half rising, and then quickly falling again, least he temp Wilton into any kind of action.

Wilton looked at him, the madness still in his eyes but retreating now to the edges to be replaced with a sad sort of finality.

"You're family!" Sirius gasped out, grasping at what little convincing theories to hold onto life as he could manage.

Wilton shook his head, seemed to reevaluate his decision and placed the tip of his wand against his temple instead.

"They'd rather see me dead," Wilton said quietly, sadly.

"No, you're wrong," Sirius negotiated.

"Lad, I know what I'm talking about. I wish you the best of luck."

Sirius' wand, which he had continued to keep clutched by his side, now flew into action, coming arm level. Before he could complete the first syllable of his disarming charm, Wilton's wand had backfired with a sound like a cannon. Sirius yelled and ducked as the gore from Wilton's body splattered against the floor and walls of the small, cramped space.

Dropping his wand, Sirius wiped the blood off his cheek with trembling fingers. His eyes went, forbidden, to Wilton's sprawled and broken body. His head snapped to the side, vomit spilling to pool on the floor.

He knew that Wilton hadn't been able to use the killing curse on himself, that would require an amount of pure hatred that was impossible to express toward yourself. He hadn't been positive that Wilton would use such a destructive spell in its place, however.

Sirius crawled over the pool of sick on the floor and wedged himself into the farthest corner from Wilton's decapitated body. The carnage in the small, contained space made him wretch again, and he extinguished the light, emerging into complete and total darkness.

Sirius hugged his knees to his chest and listened to the prowling of just a single wolf below, they must have gotten bored with their scrimmage and fled to new, more interesting parts of the school. All that remained below seemed to be the wolf that held such a vendetta against a dead man. The wolf was quiet, obviously listening intently after such a loud and unexplained noise.

Even his own breathing seemed muted. Sirius found himself utterly alone, terrified that some dark demon would materialize of out of the darkness and finish him off like it had done to some many others in the school.

His own tears, warm and gliding down his face to mix with the blood and sweat, startled him, and caused him to jump. Sirius closed his eyes and cried silently, waiting for the morning, and with it salvation, to come.

–


	26. Chapter 26

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Remus was aware of the foul tasting residue in this mouth even before he was fully conscious. He frowned slightly, running his tongue over his teeth, and slowly opened his reluctant eyes. He cringed in pain, his hands moving quickly to his face to shield his sensitive eyes from the light streaming through the windows in the hallway.

Remus winced, his fingers irritating the burns on his face and rolled from his side to his back. In confusion, the werewolf glanced around the room, painfully aware that he was no longer in the sub basement levels where he should have, by all means, awoken.

"There's another one up here!" He heard an unfamiliar voice shout and flinched at the harsh sound.

_What? _Remus thought in a mute panic, his fingers shaking as they scratched at the dried blood on his forearms and neck. It wasn't unusual for him to be covered in blood, his own blood, but the aches that Remus felt were only those of the transformation, not those caused by the usual self inflicted lacerations.

He yelled in surprise as he was yanked roughly to his feet by a strong hand on his shoulder. Remus' panic escalated as a gag was forced into his mouth and his hands were bound behind his back against his will. He bit at the cloth gag, his still unnaturally sharp teeth taring at it. The controlling body behind him maneuvered him down the stairs quickly, the grip on his arm painfully tight to keep him upright and in check.

Remus screamed against the gag, the burns on his stomach that had been left undisturbed until then, stretching and pulling and leaving him in a state of anguish. When they reached the ground floor, Remus collapsed, the pain from the burns too much, and his eyes began to water.

"Get up," the unknown voice commanded and he was yanked to his feet violently and pushed toward a pair of men that flanked the double doors into the dinning hall.

"Get some clothes on, you filthy thing," the man to the extreme left said without much spite and conjured plain white robes onto Remus' body with a fluid motion of his wand.

Remus clutched at them thankfully, his confusion and pain having caused him to momentarily forget about his state of vulnerableness.

"Name?" The second man, dressed to match the other in elaborate clothing, addressed him, holding his clip board aloft and studying it out of his thin reading glasses. The man that had robed him stepped forward in annoyance at his companion and loosened the gag around Remus' mouth.

Remus gasped and shook his head, the thick cloth loosening further and falling down to rest lightly against his chest like a bandanna.

"Remus Lupin."

"Not that one," the man snapped impatiently, aware that more of the students, naked, bound, and gaged as Remus was, were being ushered into the hall, waiting to be admitted.

"Oh," Remus muttered, blushing but refusing to avert his eyes to the ground in his embarrassment. "2511228."

The man nodded, shouted "next" and pushed Remus into the dinning hall. Inside the hall were others like him and like the ones waiting to enter the same way he just had. They were helping untie each others' hands and he was grateful when a boy he barely knew, but knew to be three years younger than himself, started to work on his own bound hands.

"Thanks," Remus said, trying to ignore the painful burns and already feeling his body adjusting to the dull aches caused by his transformation.

"No problem," the younger boy said with an attempt at a smile.

As he moved away, Remus tried not to dwell on the dried blood that had stained the corners of his smile. He scrubbed at his own face, subconscious about his appearance, and moved further into the room as more students were admitted behind him.

It was odd, how well everyone seemed to be. As a grace period classes were always canceled for two days after the full moon, to give the students a better chance to recover. Looking at the boys in the room, it was hard to say that they needed any time to recover. They were talking seriously with once another, some having their hands untied, some untying the hands of others. Although most shard the dried blood that adorned their faces, for it was the only feature left uncovered by the long sleeved white robe that trailed to the floor, they all seemed to be relatively unharmed the same way he was.

The realization left Remus with a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What's going on?" He chocked out, his voice hoarse.

Some of those nearest him turned to look at him, only to shake their heads briefly and return to their speculating.

"That's all of them," Remus heard the man who had asked for his number and called it his name say and turned in the direction of the double doors.

Another boy, one who Remus recognized as Adam, a boy his own age, was shoved into the room. Like the rest of them, Adam was nearly dwarfed in his white robe. Following Adam, a group of intimidating people entered the room. Most of them, Remus noticed, were stern faced, had their wands drawn, and were similarly dressed as the man who had admitted him into the dinning hall.

Mixed in with this group were five, very haggard looking, staff members of Stonegate Academy. Remus' heart beat painfully in his throat and he took an instinctive step toward Sirius.

Sirius met his gaze rather quickly and shook his head firmly, his eyes clouding with something like fear. Remus frowned and took another step forward.

Two of the elaborately dressed men advanced quickly, one shoving him down to his knees and the other hitting him hard in the stomach.

Remus cried out, his burnt stomach contracting painfully, and doubled over at the waist. Sirius looked away, forcing his feet to remain rooted to the floor. At his side, his hands clenched around his wand painfully tight. The two men regarded Remus coldly for a moment before retreating back to the orderly line and standing still. They eyed the student population as if waiting for someone else to make any other moves that they deemed to be threatening.

Satisfied that they now held the attention of the entire room, the man in the middle of the group took a step forward from the line to address the students in the room. One of the men that had attacked Remus flicked his wand subtly and the man from the center of the line who was attempting to address them suddenly found his voice magically enhanced.

"As of today, February 26, 1977, this institution, Stonegate Academy for the chronically infected, is under a permanent quarantine."

The students started murmuring amongst themselves and the speaker had to clear his throat for absolute attention.

"We've sent a letter to each of your families. In it, we've explained the circumstances of what has transpired as of last night, February 25, 1977."

The boys stared talking again, some in mild confusion, others in their excitement. While the majority of them had understood by now that something had happened, they couldn't be sure of the entire details. Others, the ones that had planned the escape and the execution of the plan, quickly rushed to full in those who, like Remus had been until the last possible moment, had been unaware.

There was a loud bang and the students fell silent, wincing and turning toward the front of the room once more.

"You will all be delivered home by approximately eight o' clock this evening," he continued as if never interrupted.

"What are you trying to say?" Someone from the back of the hall yelled, his question accompanied by other, less confrontational, murmurings.

"What I am _saying_ is that this school is a mistake, full of mistakes, and that it is simply waiting for disasters like this to happen."

The protests of the students becoming confrontational as they transformed from murmurs to a roar.

"This is an order by the Ministry of Magic!" The man yelled. "We are containing the problem! Quiet!" He yelled, casting a second amplifying charm on himself to increase the volume of his voice.

The angry protests of the students drowned the Ministry employee, with the assistance of his double amplifying charms, out completely. Remus himself was yelling with the rest of his classmates, his hoarse voice straining.

Stonegate Academy shared a funny type of relationship with the students that attended it. Some of the boys that called Stonegate Academy home during the school season also called it such all year long. Some of them would live there full time from a very young age to the legal age of seventeen. For others, it offered an escape to a place where they were greeted with acceptance by their peers.

Some of the boys saw Stonegate as a way to escape from families that either didn't want them or were abusive physically, verbally, and emotionally. To take away such a safe haven, even if it became violent at times, was to take away the only concept of life that made everything tolerable and possible.

For Remus, it was the fatal blow that he would not graduate. It had only been a month ago that Wilton had pulled him aside and quietly confided in him that he would be the second person in over eighty years to graduate from Stonegate with the highest sense of honor.

"You're a good boy, Remus," Wilton had said kindly, placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling warmly. "I've watched you struggle though this school, and I'm very proud of what you're accomplished. This school will try it's hardest to accommodate your future, you just let me know what you need."

Remus' voice grew stronger as he remembered the achievement. He was bitter like the others, yet for a different reason, and voiced his discontent.

Rob jumped onto one of the tables and pumped his fist into he air. The student body swarmed around the base of the table. The Ministry employees regarded him wearily and shifted uncomfortably.

"This is bullshit!" Rob's voice was met with a loud roar of approval.

Remus was hesitant to go along with anything led by Rob, knowing it was most likely to lead to unnecessary violence, and moved toward the wall, toward the sidelines of the conflict. The blood rushed in his ears as he watched carefully to see how his past tormentor would lead the restless student body.

"We've put up with your oppression for too long! This is our school and we're not going to let you take it away from us!" He stomped his foot against the table as if to underline is very words. "We'll fight you for it!"

As soon as the words had left his mouth, the boys started to work together, ripping up the chairs that had been bolted down to the floor. The chairs came free with a groaning sound and they started ripping the wooden legs from the chairs, wielding them as if they were clubs.

_I suppose they are now, _Remus thought as he was forced to ducked when a red stunning spell soared over his head and exploded against the wall behind him. Over the din, he could hear someone shouting incoherent orders.

The Ministry workers scattered as the students rushed at them. Rob maintained his position on top of the table, shouting his own commands as if his classmates were his own personal army. It was hard to tell if the students were responding to him or rather operating on their own whims. Remus felt it was the latter as it was becoming increasingly difficult to hear Rob over all the noise.

The noise was painful to Remus' sensitive ears as spells fired, sometimes hitting their targets, other times shattering windows or colliding with the walls, and the students screamed and hammered at the Ministry employees with their handmade, impromptu weapons.

Remus tried his best to stay out of everyone's way and flattened himself against the wall to avoid two werewolves that were rushing one Ministry employee who had his attention focused elsewhere. He started desperately to search for Sirius and dived under one of the tables for shelter. He glanced up from his safe spot, thankful that he could concentrate fully on locating Sirius rather than dodging the two clashing parties.

He cringed at the sound of shattering glass and looked up to where Rob was, his shouting silenced. Rob's body was relaxed, his legs continuing to support his weight and his facial features fixed even as his eyes became glassy.

His eyes were not as if stunned, they wouldn't look as if he were a dead man still standing. Rob toppled backward off the table and fell to the floor with a loud thud. His head collided with the stone floor hard and Remus could see the blood start to pool around his head from his crouched position under the table.

It seemed as if the entire hall had become silent to watch Rob, the instigator that had voiced the young werewolves' opinion, fall. Remus' head, receiving phantom pains from the sound of Rob's head cracking against the floor, turned from where Rob lay, dead, to the doors of the hall. Both of them were wide open and standing in the frame was a dark haired man with glasses, his wand still directed at the spot where Rob had been. His face was hard and, streaming through the doors around him, were two dozen others like him.

They looked different from the other Ministry employees, dressed in humble dark green robes. They looked more ready to fight than to make speeches and, foolishly, expect that the new position would not be met with any opposition. They were also more relentless than their other Ministry counterparts.

Remus yelled in terror as a flash of green light hit the corner of the table that he was hiding under. He covered his head and moved to the other end. As he moved, he caught sight of Sirius, dueling with the bespectacled wizard who had killed Rob. Breathing uneven, Remus darted out from beneath the table and dodged his way toward the other man. Not for the first time, he wished that the institution had entrusted him with a wand.

"Sirius," he yelled, ducking under the extended arms of one of the green robed men that was trying to grab him.

Attention diverted, Sirius looked up from his duel and toward Remus. The man who he'd been dueling with raised his wand in preparation. Remus glanced at him momentarily before throwing himself at his teacher.

Sirius drew him close with a grim face and held his wand aloft like a silent threat. His opponent lowered his wand and jerked his head. Another green robed Ministry employee grabbed Remus by the neck and pulled him off of Sirius forcefully.

"Savages. Attacking without the slightest warning—" the man's words were cut off as Remus bit his forearm, which had been snaking around his neck to achieve a stronger hold.

He howled in pain and Remus ducked away from him. All of a sudden, deemed as an immediate threat, Remus felt himself weighted down by three bodies. One grabbed at his neck, another his waist, and another clutched at his shoulders. He could feel them hitting him, hard, trying to get him to submit.

Remus screamed again as they disturbed his wounds and, as Sirius had taught him, fought back. He got rid of the one latched at his throat first, the man stumbling back and holding his broken and bloody nose. The ones clutching at his shoulders and waist quickly followed, yelling in pain and Remus forced himself free of them.

They silently acknowledged that a new tactic was needed to deal with this threatening opponent. Remus snarled at them, frightened, and launched himself into Sirius' arms for a familiar touch that equaled security. Sirius balked, turning Remus behind him and, finally admitting himself outnumbered as the Aurors began to close ranks on him, Apparated.

–


	27. Chapter 27

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

-

James Potter laid on his stomach, a prominent scowl on his face and tried, for the seemingly hundredth time, to coax Apollo out from under Sirius' bed. It was bad enough that he had to look after Apollo and that damn cat that Sirius had brought home shortly before Christmas, but it was worse that Apollo continued to be a stubborn upkeep.

"Come on, Appy," James sighed, waving the offered dog bone in front of Sirius' dog's face. Apollo glared back at him, uninterested and bored. "Come on, Appy."

James tried the treat again, this time accompanying it with a whistle. Apollo's ears perked forward slightly, only to flatten in disinterest moments later.

"_Come on_," James groaned, throwing the bone under the bed. Appy snatched it up happily and swallowed it whole rather than wasting his time chewing it.

"That's it," James grumbled, pushing himself up with his elbows. He was going to have to go for the big guns.

"Sirius? Is that you? Sirius is home!" He called happily as he glared at the bed. He could hear Apollo's tail beating against the floor in excitement. "Sirius! Sirius! Siri_us!_" James yelled, knocking on the wall for good measure.

Under the bed Apollo was whining and wiggling forward on his stomach. James readied himself, contemplating that the dog really was much too big to be hiding under anyone's bed.

"Siri—Gotcha!" James breathed in triumph as Apollo's nose, sniffing, emerged from beneath the bed. James pounced, grabbing one hand around Apollo's collar and the other, awkwardly, around his neck for extra support.

"Appy—Appy stop! Sit. Sit!" James panted as Apollo struggled frantically backward, his collar slipping around his ears.

James tugged hard, causing Apollo to make a gagging sound in the back of his throat, and the leather collar slipped off Appy's head. Dumbfounded, but slowly giving himself over to anger, James stared at the empty collar he was left holding. Apollo growled from under the bed and rested his head on his front paws sadly.

"That's it!" James cried, throwing the collar into the corner. "You stupid dog," he complained to himself, stalking into the kitchen and opening the door to the utility closet.

He grabbed the broom and marched, his feet striking the floor moodily with each step, back to the bedroom. He laid down on his stomach again.

"You want to play rough, huh?" James asked as he poked at the dog's hindquarters with the handle end of the broom. Appy growled and shifted slightly.

"_Move_ you dumb—" he began, poking at Appy harder this time. The dog's ears laid flat before shooting forward with interest and undivided attention. He wormed his way out from under the bed, bumping into James and running out of the bedroom.

James sat up, looking slightly exhausted, and used the broom to push himself to his feet. On the other side of the house he could hear Apollo's frantic barking and scratching at the door.

"Apollo, no," James sighed, bending down to fasten the collar back on.

He opened the door and then slammed it shut as Apollo ran through it and down into the yard. He slumped over the counter and poured himself a shot of whiskey from the tall cabinet. Eying the amber contents, James toasted himself before downing the alcohol.

"Cheers, Appy."

"I see how it is. I've been gone a good six months, yet when I come home you're toasting my dog? That's not on, mate."

James choked on his drink and dropped the glass. Reacting quickly, Sirius froze it with his wand and then levitated it back into the counter. He pounded on James' back until the other man had gotten hold of himself and his windpipe.

"Sirius? What are you doing here? You didn't even tell me—Who the bloody hell is that?" He asked, questions that would seemingly never end, and glanced at the tawny haired boy that had one hand clutched to Sirius' forearm, and another around the rim of the kitchen sink.

"This is..." Sirius started uncertainly, glancing from Remus to James. Remus seemed too busy trying to keep the contents of his stomach under control to be concerned with introductions. "I'll explain in a moment," he settled with at last, wrapping an arm around Remus and leading him down the hallway, Appy, who had gone to greet him and followed him back inside, barking happily at his heels.

"Down, Apollo, down," Sirius muttered as the dog jumped up, trying to lick his face.

Sirius kicked the door behind him shut, leaving a fairly upset dog trapped on the other side and led Remus to his bed and helped him to sit down on the edge.

"I feel so..." Remus trailed off weakly, hiding his head in the crook of his elbow.

"I know. We Apparated pretty far." Sirius brought in a metal waste bin from the attached bathroom and placed it beside the bed. "It'll pass," he reassured, smoothing Remus' hair off his forehead.

Sirius hesitated, not ready to kiss a mouth that he had watched ruthlessly attack another human being. He forced himself not to think about Wilton and kissed Remus on the forehead, still feeling slightly weary.

"When?" Remus moaned, bending double at the waist.

"Here," Sirius said, disappearing into the bathroom and returning with a small glass bottle with a bright red rubber stopper on top. He popped the rubber stopper off with his thumb and sat down next to Remus. "This should help the nausea to pass."

Remus, still bent over, looked at the phial Sirius held with distaste.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Don't play this game with me."

"I don't want it."

"Remus."

"Sirius."

Sirius sighed, surprised by the werewolf's stubbornness on one hand, and unsurprised due to the fact that Remus had been through so much in the past twenty-four hours.

"Remus, please. For me? It'll make you feel better."

Sirius found it ironic that Remus would drink laced coffee from his very hands, laced coffee that could very well poison him, but when it came to this Remus balked at the idea of taking a potion that would heal him. The thought almost made Sirius angry when he realized just how frightened Remus must be. He sighed and replaced the stopper.

His knees bent, taking the majority of his weight as he prepared to stand up. Remus reached out and placed a hand on his forearm to stop him. Sirius looked back at him with, what he hoped were, understanding eyes. Remus' fingers railed from Sirius' arm to his wrist to his hand and gently took the phial from him.

"This is going to help me," Remus said dryly, perhaps to convince himself of the good the light blue potion would do for his stomach. He popped the stopper much the same way that Sirius had and eying it carefully.

"For you," he said as a toast to Sirius, pulling a disgusted face as the potion washed down his throat and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You should have done it for yourself."

Remus shrugged and looked at his lap.

"Sirius...what happened last night? I mean..."

"Nothing—"

"Don't lie to me," Remus hissed, keeping his eyes averted. "I know about the plan—"

"You _knew,_" Sirius said with a hint of accusation and suspicion.

"Only at the last minute. Oh, please Sirius, don't give me that look. When would they have the time to tell me? I mean, I'm always with you."

Sirius accepted Remus' explanation easily. He didn't want to believe that Remus had anything to do with last night's events. Yet there seemed to be a lot that he didn't know about Remus. Since he was a suspect that meant that he had to be at least capable of his supposed crime. Sirius shook his head, quickly dismissing the thought.

"Can you wait here for a little bit?" Sirius asked as he stood up. "If you want, I have some tee shirts that you can change into."

He nodded toward a door on the other wall that Remus supposed must have been a closet. Remus looked down at his white robe, it was askew and engulfed his body almost completely.

"Thanks," he sighed, exhausted and laid down on his side of the bed.

Remus wanted to change out of the clothes that that man had placed on him, into something that smelled like Sirius, but found that his body was unwilling to respond. Sirius turned to leave, tossing the empty phial that Remus had set on his night stand into the waste basket as an after thought.

"Am I in trouble?" Remus was chewing on the edge of his sleeve, using the headboard of the bed to push himself up. He stumbled toward the closet, leaning a hand against the wall to steady himself as he moved toward the closet. "Sirius?"

The older man turned in the doorway, his torso twisted and his hand on the door knob.

Remus was slumped against the bed again, one of Sirius' shirts balled in his fist. He chewed on the sleeve of his white robe and regarded Sirius with his bright eyes.

"Don't you worry about it. I'll fix it," Sirius promised again.

Remus didn't respond but rolled so that he faced the wall, wincing at the dull pain of his burnt stomach and silently noting to himself to ask Sirius to fix that as well later.

Sirius had the distinct sinking feeling that he was promising too many impossible things. Things that might prove to be simply irrelevant when he considered Remus' lifespan was in danger of being considerably shortened. He closed the door softly behind him and hoped that Remus would sleep well and peacefully, not knowing how many more chances he would get to do just that.

–

"What James," Sirius sighed as he reentered the kitchen to find James leaning against the counter with his arms crossed tightly across his chest. He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and collapsed into it.

"I don't understand."

"There are a lot of things that I don't understand right now," Sirius said as he rubbed at Appy's ears.

James strode over the the table, placed his hands on the polished top, and leaned toward Sirius.

"I don't get it. Why are you here?"

"What? Not planning on seeing me?" Sirius' laugh was hollow and the dog's ears shifted momentarily at the sound.

"That's not what I meant and you know—"

"Some unexpected things came up. Do you still have any coffee? Can you put a pot on?"

James wrinkled his nose and turned away from the table, going back to the counter and plugging the coffee pot in.

"I almost didn't miss you for this aspect alone."

"You've never even tried it."

James didn't comment, he didn't need to taste coffee to know that he didn't like it, as he started the brew and sat down across from his best friend, his one true confidant, and above all, his business partner.

"What kind of things? Is it...is it done? Did you—"

Sirius cut of his hesitant line of question with a shake of his head.

"It's that kid, James."

James' eyes shifted toward the hallway that Sirius' bedroom was located down and the same one that he had led the mysterious, unsteady boy down.

"That's...the one?"

"No!" Sirius yelled, eyes filled with furious denial as he looked up at James.

"Sorry, sorry," James countered quickly in defense."

"That's Remus. He...could be." James' eyes widened in understanding as he rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. "I'm scared."

James looked up at him, trying to catch his friend's wavering eye, but unable to read into any of his emotions except for absolute fear.

"You really like him."

"God, James it's..." Sirius' voice trailed off. He rested his elbows on the table and cradled his head in his cupped hands. "Difficult. Even if he was...just my student...James, he's just too innocent. I've never killed," his voice broke on the word and he was forced to clear his throat. "anyone...innocent...on purpose...before."

"He didn't do it?" James asked with raised brows.

"Stop it. I don't even know if it's him yet," Sirius hissed.

"From the way you were talking about it—"

"I've prepared myself for the worse, yeah, I know."

"So what are the chances?"

"Not good. Coffee's done," Sirius said with a dry throat.

James sucked in a breath between this teeth, making a soft hissing sound, in sympathy. He turned to tend to the pot, pouring Sirius a cup of coffee and placing it in front of his friend. The assassin picked up the mug with both hands and swallowed hard around the lump that had unwillingly formed in the back of his throat.

"I bet you'd like it," Sirius started, pausing to take a sip. "If you doctor it up the way Remus does. So much sugar and cream I have to buy extra."

"Maybe," James decided to humor him, although he personally thought he would never like the hot drink.

"I'll have him fix some for you later, the way he likes it."

"But you really don't think it's him?"

"He hasn't done anything!" Sirius snapped, upsetting his mug and quickly straightening it so that only a small amount splashed onto the table. Appy wondered off at his tone and curled up in his dog bed in the corner. He scrubbed at the spill with this sleeve so that it stained it. "His only crime—if he's done anything," he hastily added. "Is that he's too smart for his own good."

"If he joins the Order with that kind of information—"

Sirius laughed bitterly and James frowned.

"You're implying they'd have him? They're just as biased as any of the rest. And would that really be such a bad thing?"

James sat down again, shifting his body uncomfortably in the kitchen chair, mumbling to himself.

"Did you just say _money_?" Sirius hissed.

"We're getting paid for a _job_, Sirius," James retorted.

"Remus is more than just some job to me, James!"

"You're getting too wrapped up in this! Don't you ever think with your head? You're too involved. Your emotions always get in the way!"

"I'm sorry I can't look at the whole thing as if it were just some kind of puzzle, just waiting to be fucking solved."

"We've had this talk every time. These people mean _nothing_ to us. If you like living the way you do then you best remember that—"

"It's so easy for you to say, so fucking easy, James!" Sirius yelled, standing up violently, his mug toppling to the floor and shattering, hot coffee staining the floor. "You're not the one doing the dirty work. There's no blood on your hands. No one's forcing you to get close to someone and then kill them before they even have a chance to realize what's going on!"

"My hands are as bloody as yours. I helped, didn't I?" James snapped, body ready to jump into action and struggling to stay seated and as unconfrontational as possible

"You haven't pushed anyone off of a building, made it look like an accident," Sirius said, his fists shanking at his side as he glared at James. "You've never shot a man and made it look like it was his wife. Have you ever had to kill a women with the killing curse, only to have to kill her daughter with you're bare hands because you weren't mentally able to kill an innocent child with the same spell that killed her mother?" His voice trailed off quietly and James was silent.

Sirius collapsed to the floor, legs bent under him and head hidden in his hands. His shoulders shook and he didn't notice as the hot coffee soaked in to the fabric of his pants. James sighed tentatively and cleared the spilled coffee and the broken mug with a wave of his wand.

"Sirius, mate..." James started quietly, extending a hand to Sirius with outstretched fingers.

Sirius bit his lip to keep in what was threatening to become a sob.

"I'm scared, James. I've done so much—"

"So maybe we need to go to a few confessionals with the priest," James cut him off quickly as Sirius began to hiccup. He bent slightly at the waist and picked Sirius' hand up.

"You cut yourself," James said in an attempt to fill the void and distract Sirius from his tears as he pulled his best friend up and healed the small cut form the jagged ceramic in one fluid motion.

"What would you say if I told you that I love him?"

James froze, unsure how to best answer the question.

"I guess I'd tell you that I hope it works out this time."

"Can't I just back out now—"

"No!" James hissed, grabbing Sirius by the shoulders and forcing him to face him completely. "Do you want to die? Quarry will have us killed, you know that, don't you?"

Sirius shook him off wearily and ran a hand through his hair. He exhaled calmly in an attempt to prove to James that he had the situation totally and completely under his control.

"I don't know who you're trying to fool. I know that you're upset."

"Of course, wouldn't you be?" Sirius asked with a mirthless laugh.

James' lips thinned and he didn't offer any response.

"I mean," Sirius started, shaking hand gripping the back of the chair he had been sitting in. "Could you kill someone? Someone you've no reason to?"

"Sirius—" James said quickly as his friend sat down and looked into the bottom of his newly repaired and empty coffee mug.

"I wouldn't expect it from you," Sirius sighed, closing his eyes and rising the mug to his lips. "I started it. It only makes sense that I be the one to end it as well."

He spoke, more to himself than to James, and lifted the mug upward and took a sip from its empty depths.

--


	28. Chapter 28

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Remus slept for a whole day after drinking the potion that Sirius had coaxed him into taking. In it, Sirius had skillfully created a concoction that was half a pain numbing potion and half a sleep aid. Already mentally exhausted from the full moon and then from the events that had transpired directly the morning after, Remus had fallen prey to the sleep aid much quicker than he had to the pain killer.

The mixing of the two potions had given him a headache as he slept, much too dull to wake he did fully wake, the dull pain pounding above his left eye made him wince and squint his eyes back to a half open status.

"Sirius?" He asked quietly, sitting up and blinking his eyes open past the pain.

Remus reclined against the wooden head board of the bed and stretched his legs out before him; as they had become quite stiff and cramped as he had slept with them curled tightly beneath his body for added security in the strange new environment.

On the edge of the bed say Sirius, his body rigid and his hands were placed limply in this lap. His gray eyes were fixed on Remus' own, following every slight movement that they made. They had the appearance of a haggard man that had not slept much as of recently. The seriousness of the situation made Remus feel uneasy and he felt a shiver convulse down his back.

"What's going on?" He asked, his voice holding an undertone of panic.

Sirius' head jerked, almost mechanically, and Remus' hands clenched on the sheets, as if an automatic reaction.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

His teacher's voice was hoarse with disuse and Remus felt as if the thin smile on his face was forced.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Remus," Sirius said with his quiet, hoarse voice, standing up and pacing toward the younger boy. "You're just feeling a little disoriented. That's all," he said calmly, the frayed ends of his sanity nearing a breaking point after the emotional carnage he'd been subjected to in the past few days.

Remus' eyes darted to the wand that he was attempting to hide behind his back. Remus edged away from Sirius, untangling himself from the sheets and muscles tensing in anticipation.

"Where are you going?"

"I—"

"I brought you breakfast," Sirius said in a strained voice, bringing his wand up sharply and making the breakfast tray that had been perched on top of his dresser settle into Remus' lap. "Well, I suppose that it's lunch now," he finished with that same forced smile, this time accompanied by a short and hollow laugh as well.

"Yeah," Remus said, swallowing around the lump that had formed in his throat and hoped that Sirius could not hear the sound of his heart pounding quickly against his ribcage. "Thanks." Remus forced himself to nibble on the corner of his toast.

"Oh, it might be cold," Sirius said, bringing his wand up quickly again.

"That's okay," Remus defended, chocking on his toast and waving Sirius' wand arm down hastily. "It's fine," he said, eyes watering and setting the toast back down onto the tray.

Sirius frowned. "You're jumpy."

"_You're_ acting oddly.

"No."

"Do you really expect me to be anything but jumpy after all that?"

Sirius didn't want to fight with Remus. Didn't want to yell at him and say that he had no right to be jumpy after the continued nights of pure hell he'd been through. Remus hadn't needed to drag Wilton's headless body out of the small crawl space that they had taken refuge in from the prowling werewolves of Stonegate Academy, himself in particular. Nor that he had had to duel with his best friend's father for the safety of his students, one of which he was still contracted to kill.

He didn't feel like rehashing to Remus how he had not slept last night either, although this time for a completely different reason than defending his life against a school full of werewolves. Wasn't about to tell Remus that he hadn't slept properly in a while as he laid awake, weighing just the odds that Remus was up against, and wondering if this was one gamble that the younger boy was going to win.

"Eat up," Sirius said instead, turning and leaving before he started to tell Remus all of the things that would give him a real reason to be jumpy.

Remus watched as Sirius left the room and then set the breakfast tray, which had indeed grown cold, causing Remus to wonder just how long Sirius had been sitting by his bedside, aside and threw the blankets back fully. His body didn't ache anymore from the moon of two days past and his headache was already fading away, courtesy of the potion that Sirius had said would make him feel much better.

Remus clutched at the shirt that he had taken from Sirius' closet but had fallen asleep before he had had the chance to change into it. He shrugged the robe off, letting it pool on the floor around him, and slipped the plain white shirt on. He carefully did up all of the buttons, going slow to make sure that each button found the appropriate corresponding slit. The button down came comfortably down to his knees and, ignoring the slight remaining headache, followed Sirius' departure from the bedroom.

He could hear muffled noises coming from the room at the other end of the hallway and proceeded toward them. Remus peered slowly around the arch into what seemed to be a very large kitchen, complete with all of the things that his father would have liked to have been able to provide for his children. Sirius was leaning over the island in the center of the room, dark hair cascading into his face, and hands placed down on the counter top in a dominant gesture.

"James, what does Quarry mean by—"

"Who are you talking to?" Remus interrupted him quietly and stepped into the kitchen. His bare feet were cold against the unforgiving hardwood floor.

Sirius' head jerked up, his eyes wide in his face.

"James."

Remus frowned and moved over to stand next to Sirius. He looked down at the square mirror on the counter top in confusion.

"Who's James—" Remus asked with a gasp as he raised the mirror to eye level. The surface, supposedly reflective in nature, was completely blank, stubbornly refusing to mimic his features.

"James is my room mate," Sirius said, taking the mirror from Remus' hands and replacing it on top of the refrigerator. "You've met him. Don't you remember him from when we got here?"

Remus looked around at the large kitchen, at the marble counter tops and the fresh bowls of fruit. He glanced up at the large, slanted sun roofs and then to the glass doors that opened up unto what looked to be an impressive patio area. Beyond the landscaped yard he could see blue water.

_Water?_

"Where are we?"

"Greece."

"Greece?"

"It was the first place that came to mind. The house in France would have been closer...but I'm quite fond of this one," Sirius remarked, glancing around the arid room.

"What were...Sirius, who were those men?" Remus asked quietly, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to comb it.

"Aurors, Remus."

"And what...really happened? How much...damage?"

Sirius looked at Remus desperately, unsure of where to start or how much he was obligated to tell his student turned so much more. Remus shifted uncomfortably but refused to drop his eyes.

"Don't I, of all people, have a right to know?" He asked quietly.

Sirius crossed to the other side of the island as that he stood across from Remus rather than next to him. He wasn't sure if this would make it any easier, but he felt as if the physical motion was distracting, a new focal point to focus his tired mind on.

"How much do you know?"

Remus shrugged, fingers still working in his hair. "Nothing, really. I know that they loosened the bolts so that we could..." he trailed off, unwilling to make himself continue.

"Escape," Sirius whispered and Remus finally broke eye contact, fingers clenching in his hair out of nervousness.

"I didn't know anything about it, honestly. I found out at the last second. I looked for you, I really did, and then I saw Wilton and—" he chanced a glance up at his professor and finished his sentence in a whisper as Sirius winced at the mention of the headmaster's name. "I tried to warn him."

Sirius crossed his arms lightly over his chest and glared out of the large window that over looked the calm blue water. He had to force himself not to think about the night that Remus was describing and causing him to relive.

"Wilton's dead, Remus."

Remus' mouth went dry and his fingers slowly uncurled from his sleep tossed tawny hair, coming to rest limply at his sides instead. He moved to stand next to Sirius on the other side of the island and tentatively reached out to take the older man's hand.

"Sirius?" Remus prompted quietly. The other man's head turned jerkily toward him. The haunted look that dwelt in the depths of his gray eyes startled Remus. The werewolf took a sudden step backwards, his fingers just managing to remain in contact with Sirius' own.

"He was bitten—"

"Did I—"

"No," Sirius said quickly, convincing Remus because it was exactly the response that he had wanted to hear.

"Did they," Remus said, relieved to be excluded from the accused party. "Eat...him?"

Sirius shook his head, gaining a firmer grip on Remus' hand and pulling him closer. Remus submitted, shaking, and pressed his forehead into Sirius' chest. The other man had to try hard not to let his emotions take control of him, as he would only startle Remus further.

"No," he verbalized, stroking Remus' hair, his fingers tangling in the dried blood from the night of the full moon, and he forced himself to ignore it and concentrated on soothing Remus instead. "Suicide."

Remus' hands clenched in his shirt and Sirius' hand paused momentarily from stroking the werewolf's hair.

"Is there anything else you need to know?"

Remus shook his head, terrified of asking anything further least the answers he receive were too horrific.

"Can I take a bath?" Remus asked quietly, resting his chin flat on Sirius' chest so that he looked up directly at the taller man. "I feel...so...Sirius, I feel so _dirty_. Filthy," Remus said with a slight shiver on the word.

"Yeah, Rem. Of course."

Remus let himself be led from the kitchen, moving slowly and grateful that Sirius did not force him to detach as they walked back down the hallway together.

"Right here."

Sirius steered the younger boy into a high ceilinged room, the biggest bathroom that Remus had ever seen.

"The shower's over there—"

"Bath," Remus interrupted, detaching his arms from around Sirius' waist and pacing over to sit on the edge of the expansive bathtub.

"Shampoo, towels, soap," Sirius continued, his back to the werewolf as he searched through the closet in the bathroom, naming each of the items that he withdrew. He set them on the rim of the tub next to Remus. "If you need anything else, I'll be right outside—"

"What are we?" Remus asked as he turned the hot water knob, completely ignoring the cold one. The water flowed through the piping and out of the large, decorated faucet head. Steam began to rise from the hot water pooling in the bottom of the tub, adding moisture to the air and fogging the edge of the mirrors in the bathroom, which seemed to have a wall all their own.

Sirius paused, looking past the steamy mist at Remus and drew a deep breath.

"Remus, you are...my student—"

"But aren't I more?"

Sirius hesitated, thinking of all the things that Remus was to him. He was, truthfully, in a way his student. Beyond that he was a possible target on what was becoming an emotionally challenging mission. Other than that, Remus was more...

"I care about you," Sirius said, coming forward again and brushing the hair away from Remus' face. "I...don't know what that makes us."

Remus tilted his head away from Sirius' hand. He glanced down at the tub that was now half way full, his dirty hair falling into his face.

"That's all?" Remus whispered, bending down and placing the tips of his fingers into the water. He withdrew them with a wince.

"Here, I'll fix it," Sirius reached for the cold water knob, only to have Remus stop him quickly with a hand on his wrist.

"It's okay, I like it hot."

Sirius nodded but didn't try to fight his wrist free from Remus' slackened grasp. His fingers shifted slightly, feeling for the pulse on the underside of Remus' wrist where hand and forearm met. It was quick and fluttering, and Sirius wondered if it was due to his behavior from this morning that had scared Remus, or from their closeness.

"Okay," Sirius said around the lump that had formed in his throat. He eyed the water that was only a few inches from the porcelain rim of the white garden tub. He wondered if Remus liked his bath overflowing as well as hot.

_It's so deep. So full. He could drown—I could drown—_ Sirius' teeth clenched and he looked away from the water, into the other's eyes. Remus' odds were not good, he already knew that. There was a good chance that he...W_ould it be easier to drown him? Make it look like a suicide? Like Wilton and—_

He shook his head, finally forcing his wrist free and reached over to turn the water off.

"Yell if you need anything," Sirius called over his shoulder, trying to make his voice sound normal and hating himself when it came out weak.

He forced himself not to look back at Remus as he left the bathroom. He started in a run, clumsily slipping over his own feet and stumbling before he made it into the kitchen. He scrambled to reach the communicate mirror that he had stowed on top of the refrigerator.

In his haste, Sirius knocked a stack of paper from the top of the tall appliance and they scattered to the floor. Sirius' hands clasped around the small mirror and he placed it down quickly on the table top of the island, saving the fallen papers for later.

"James," Sirius hissed, hands palm down on the counter and hair falling to frame his face as he leaned close to the mirror. "_James,_ dammit. When I need you—"

James' face, strained and his hair windblown slightly, filled the mirror.

"Don't you know how to be patient?" James hissed back, his head turning awkwardly in the mirror to glance over his shoulder. His face returned after a moment and he turned the collar on his coat up. "Sirius, we need to talk—"

"Why _the fuck_ do you think I called you—"

"Keep your voice down, won't you? People are staring." James hushed him and shot another glance over his shoulder.

"Contact Quarry. We need to talk, now. Call it off, tell him I quit. I can't do this anymore, I don't want to know if Remus is..." Sirius trailed of softly as James shook his head.

"I just got out of a meeting with Quarry, Sirius."

Sirius' breath hitched and his fingers clenched into fists upon the counter top of the island.

"What did he say?" He asked in a rushed voice.

"They've found him, Sirius."

–


	29. Chapter 29

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Sorry that this chapter took a lot longer than I would have liked to post. Whenever I am off of school, things seem to go a lot slower. There was also a problem with a certain gift I got over the holidays. It was a little book (not so little at topping one-thousand pages) called Under the Dome by Stephen King that consumed a large amount of my attention, admiration, and time. Now that I am finished with my reading and school is back in session, I should have faster updates.

Thank you as always for the patience.

-

The connection was gone, ruined. Broken. Sirius wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up on the floor with blood dripping from a deep and straight gash that had appeared on his palm. The pieces of the two way mirror that had shattered when it had fallen to the floor were scattered around him. He looked at the jagged pieces, reflecting nothing. Empty. They were neither transparent, nor reflecting the room that was spinning around him.

It was over. All over. James knew the answer. James alone held Remus' fate in his ill suited hands.

_How does James know? What does Quarry know all of a sudden? How?_

Sirius crouched over the pieces of the mirror, frowning, and slipped his wand out from its place up his sleeve. He tapped a piece of the mirror with the tip, forgetting the charm that would repair it.

"Come on. Come _on, Black_," he spat his own name, as if doing so would rid him of it and the impossible emotional assignment that had been contracted to that name. "Think. It's...it's..." Sirius muttered in frustration, tapping several different pieces harshly, the sound of the connection between wood and glass seeming to echo in the spacious kitchen.

_Is it Remus? I've got to know,_ Sirius thought as he started to push the pieces together with his trembling fingers, making smaller cuts sting his finger tips and beads of blood pool and smear across the mirror, giving its empty surface color.

He threw his wand aside, completely useless, and tried to repair the mirror as if it were the worlds most difficult and vital puzzle. The jagged pieces fit together crookedly, where smaller fragments had splintered off and rendered it impossible for the pieces to slide together perfectly.

"Sirius, what happened? It's never done that before," James' voice called from the front entrance of their shared home. Sirius, lost to himself, continued to jam the pieces together and whispered under his breath. He was becoming increasingly more upset as the fragments refused to fit back together.

"Sirius, Sirius," James calmed as he rushed into the kitchen and pulled the dark haired man to his feet.

"I can't," Sirius said, struggling against James, still focused on the mirror puzzle. "I need to find out. Don't stop me."

"Jesus, Sirius. It's me. Look at me," James said faintly, gripping his friend by the shoulders and turning him around fully. "_Look at me_."

"James?" Sirius said, eyes jumping from the man in front of him to the pieces scattered on the floor. "How did you get here?"

"I Apparated, Sirius," James explained patiently, healing the tips of Sirius' fingers and the cut across his palm deftly.

James then directed his attention toward the broken two way mirror and murmured the charm under his breath to return it to its whole state. James' wand moved, swiftly, to the papers on the floor and returned them to their proper place on top of the refrigerator. He steadied Sirius and led him over to the table, kicking out a chair as they came close enough. Sirius sat down gratefully, his good sense seeming to have returned in some slight moderation.

"James," he spoke, his voice gaining some kind of controlled tone, the frantic motion of his movements fading rapidly. "Is Remus going to be okay?"

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"We need to talk, Sirius."

"I'm aware."

James flicked his wand over his shoulder, listening momentarily to confirm that the coffee maker had started the way he had intended it to. He sat down across from his friend and crossed his arms on top of the table.

"How much do you know about what happened after your...little night of terror?"

Sirius' stomach plummeted. "How did you know about that?"

They had talked since Sirius had gotten back, but Sirius hadn't so much as mentioned the reason to James for his unannounced appearance. It was still a fresh would, and certainly one that would need time to heal before he was ready to discuss it. The paper, he had also found hadn't mentioned a word of the riot at Stonegate Academy. There was, after all, no need to worry the good public over a perfectly contained situation.

"How did you know about that?"

"Quarry told me. Sirius what—"

"How does Quarry know?"

"Please answer the question, Sirius."

"I don't know what happened. We left and that was it."

"For you. Yes," James sighed, picking his wand up again and pouring Sirius' coffee over his shoulder and summoning the mug to rest in front of his friend. "But what about the others? What about the werewolves left to defend themselves against a legion of highly trained Aurors?"

"How do you—" Sirius started, not even noticing the mug of hot coffee that was steaming before him.

"I told you, Quarry told me," James said and then, after a slight pause, "Everything."

"I...don't know anything about the others."

"The rest of them, those that survived, were arrested. A little under two hundred all together. They were taken back to the Ministry in London and placed in the holding cells there. The guards distributed sedatives to insure peace and their own safety. You can understand that they did not want a repeat of the night before."

"So many...details, James."

"Quarry had one of the Aurors, Sirius. They fed him all of the information. Anything he wanted to know. He got answers."

"There are things that those Aurors don't know," Sirius muttered, wrapping his hands around the hot mug numbly and thinking to the night of the full moon.

"He had his man question all of them," James continued after disregarding Sirius' words for those kept to oneself after a tragic accident. "Find out their age. Where they lived...Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Sirius nodded, eyes leaving James' face and retreating to the dark coffee.

"But...They didn't know about Remus. So...he's safe? Right?"

"Well...not exactly," James started slowly. "I mean," he hastened as Sirius looked at him with pain filled eyes again. "Just listen first. Hear me out, okay?"

He reached across the table and squeezed Sirius' hand briefly. To Sirius, it felt like expressed condolences. Sirius closed his eyes, took a deep breath in and squeezed back before James' hand retreated to the other end of the table again.

"Hurry, James."

"I think it's important that you...understand. Quarry realized, like you did, that there would be those that managed to escape. But when Quarry thought about escaping, he thought about escape through dying. Not _escaping_ like you two did.

"He had them cross reference the records retrieved from the school, you know, question those that fit both descriptions. They found no connection between the three that they captured, but had them killed for good measure. The only one that they didn't question—"

"Is Remus," Sirius exhaled quietly, twisting to look down the hallway. "Then they think he's dead. I mean, those records don't have anything about physical descriptions—"

James shook his head again and Sirius felt his heart sink.

"They had to go back to collect the dead. Quarry had his man check the registry numbers at the Ministry with the identification numbers that are branded into the back of the kids' necks. None of them matched with any of the dead. They know one's left, Sirius, because of the school records. Sirius, they want—"

"No!" Sirius yelled, sitting forward in his chair, causing small ripple rings to form in his coffee mug. "They can't have him. Remus didn't do it. _He's mine_."

"Sirius," James said rather sadly. "I'm sorry. It _is_ Remus. There is no other option. Remus is the one, Sirius."

Sirius slumped back in his chair, his face mimicking the features of a defeated man.

"You're positive?" He asked with hardly any real conviction.

"It's not a guess any more, Sirius. He's the only one left."

Sirius twisted in his chair, looking back down the hallway where Remus was currently relaxing in his, perhaps slightly cooler, bath.

"Sirius, stay focused," James said, snapping him out of his retrieve. "Why don't you drink your coffee before it gets cold? Maybe it'll make you feel better."

"I don't want it," Sirius snapped, rounding forward sharply and smacking James' hands away from where they were trying to push the coffee closer to him in a gesture of offering. "Ever again. I hate coffee, James. Get rid of that thing. Get it away from me," he growled, standing up and starting for the coffee maker.

"Hey, hey, careful!" James said, rising and restraining Sirius from the coffee maker. "That thing cost me a lot of money. State of the line and everything—"

"Don't you ever think of anything else?" Sirius snarled. "Money, money, _money_! What about Remus? You don't even care about him. You could care less about what happens to—"

_My lover?_

"I told you not to get so fucking attached," James had to try very hard to keep the accusation tone from his voice. "Look...If you want me to...I'll kill—"

"No! You're not touching him."

"Oh, and you'll do it, then?" James snorted, releasing Sirius when the other man showed no sign of continued struggle.

"If anyone's going to kill him, it'll be me," Sirius muttered, swallowing hard and glancing down at his empty hands. "I want to make sure it's done right."

"What? Afraid I can't pull the trigger the same way you can?" James asked, a hostile undertone creeping into his words.

Sirius winced and ran his fingers along his wand that had been hiding in his pocket.

"I don't want to use a gun. It's too messy. It's not...respectful."

James snorted, moving away from Sirius and placing his untouched coffee mug on the counter by the sink.

"I don't care what it is, just as long as it gets done. The sooner we give Quarry his dead body, the sooner we stop becoming wanted men."

"Quarry's not getting anything," Sirius growled. "He'll have a proper burial. Here, right here in Greece—" He broke of abruptly in absolute terror.

_What's wrong with me? _Sirius thought in horror, realizing that he had had this moment planed perfectly in the back of his mind since he had first learned Remus was only one of a few to reside in London.

"Whatever," James muttered, pouring himself a shot of whiskey and slamming the cabinet shut. "Just do what you have to."

Sirius glared at the back of James' head with some emotional mixture between loathing and jealousy. He hated James for treating the situation so harshly and so extremely jealous that James was able to keep his outside view of everything. Never doing the actual dirty work and never becoming emotionally attached to such a person he was contract bound to murder.

The thought of facing Remus in this new light, not just as his student, or a werewolf, or a friend, or a lover, but as a real target left a bad taste in Sirius' mouth. He left the kitchen as James poured himself another drink and walked down the hallway, his mind set with resolve.

He paused outside of the bathroom door. How much, he wondered, had Remus heard? What with them shouting half of time and Remus' own keen hearing? Would it be possible that he would open the door to find the bathroom completely empty? That Remus had heard and fled? Possibly wondering around in a strange country in nothing but one of Sirius' thick bath towels?

Sirius shook his head and opened the door.

"Remus?" He called softly into the room, hoping selfishly, that the other boy would still be there.

He entered the bathroom with a sense of foreboding; the room was too quiet, virtually silent. Distantly, he could just make out the rhythmic sound of water dripping form a slightly open faucet.

"Remus?" He asked again rounding a slight corner. The sun was high, streaming from the windows and spilling onto the werewolf's upturned face. Remus' eyes were closed, peacefully, and thin wisps of steam swirled around his face. 

Sirius knelt by the side of the tub, unsure how Remus could sleep so calmly, a natural sleep, when he was feeling such anguish. It would be easiest, Sirius realized as he drew his wand slowly and looked at it, silently contemplating.

_It would be too easy_, Sirius held his breath, inner most thoughts coaxing.

He lifted his wand arm hesitantly, almost experimentally. Sirius' wand hovered momentarily, inches away from Remus' nose, before resting it lightly against the werewolf's forehead. The younger boy didn't so much as stir at the touch.

"Remus," Sirius whispered, wetting his fingers in the water and flicking the excess water into Remus' face. He quietly replaced his wand back in his pocket before Remus could wake up fully.

Remus mumbled in his sleep, shifting toward Sirius slightly before startling fully awake.

"Sirius?" He gasped, hot water slopping over the side of the tub as his weight shifted. "What are you doing in here?" Remus asked, subconsciously sinking lower in the bath water.

"Come to wake you up before you drown."

"Oh, thanks," Remus said as the beginnings of a faint blush crept up his cheeks.

"But I didn't get here in time to save you," he continued with a forced cheerful voice.

"From what?" Remus rested his chin on the rim of the large bath tub and regarded Sirius with bright eyes.

"The wrinkles," Sirius called over his shoulder as he went to the bathroom closet, pulling the door open and taking one of the neatly folded towels from the top shelf.

"Are you done?" Sirius asked, standing beside the tub and holding an end of the towel in each hand so it was spread open.

Remus smiled up at him, feeling a little bit of his subconsciousness disappearing.

"Do I have a choice? You look ready to collect me."

Sirius shrugged, keeping the towel outstretched. "I could wait."

"I wouldn't make you," Remus murmured, stepping out of the bath tub and into the strong arms and the warmth of a thick towel.

Sirius wrapped him in it fully, suddenly over come with the desire to protect the younger boy for as long as he could before he had to kill him. He hugged Remus to his chest with one hand wrapped at the nape of his neck and held him as close as humanly possible. Remus submitted quietly to the embrace, tilting his head so that his cheek rested against Sirius' chest. Remus' hands fisted gently into his defense teacher's shirt and he closed his eyes.

"Sirius," he breathed softly, inhaling the scent of his to be murderer and knowing that this was what love and true happiness really felt like.

–


	30. Chapter 30

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Very quick update! So good feelings all around! Or maybe not...Hope you all enjoy.

–

Remus had never considered himself to be an individual who had never known love and attention before. He had grown up, suckling off of the love his father had readily provided for him as the only other member of their small immediate family. Love had rained on him as if it were in infinite abundance.

No, it was rather that he had never experienced love and attention on such a scale from anyone else before. He wasn't sure what kind of dating life Sirius had had before, but if it had been anything like it was for Remus now, he wondered why anyone would ever let him go.

Perfect was the only word to describe such a person as Sirius. Remus figured he had to be perfect. They'd had breakfast in bed for a week straight, getting crumbs all over Sirius' nice clean sheets. And what fun it had been when Remus had worried about those crumbs and tried to pick them all up. And how Sirius had laughed at the look of deep concentration upon Remus' face and pushed him gently back on the bed, into all of those little crumbs. He had laughed and kissed Remus' protesting mouth, figuring the crumbs could wait for eternity for all he cared.

There was always the hour spent getting dressed and preforming all of the other necessary hygiene practices, as the dishes cleared themselves, periodically bumping into James as they made their way to the sink downstairs.

Remus enjoyed these times most of all. The digging through Sirius' closet to find clothing that would fit him. The hardest part was finding a shirt to ware as he had found two pairs of jeans that suited him just fine and he alternated between.

Remus liked lying them out of the bed, having Sirius overlook them critically, and then to sigh dramatically, telling Remus that the only way to know for sure was to try them on. The werewolf enjoyed the subtle reactions he drew from Sirius by stripping his sleep wrinkled shirt off and folding it carefully before slipping into a new one. Sirius was good with compliments, Remus could feel his confidence as if it were a tangible thing steadily rising. It had grown as the week with Sirius passed, his confidence was swelling slightly until it reached the comfortable mark that it hovered when he was home with his father.

Sirius always had fun things for them to do during the day. There were lots of walks around the picturesque little town that James and Sirius shared a hone on the outskirts of, among many other things. Remus was particularly thrilled with the boat ride out to watch the sunset and the trips to art and history museums in Sirius' sleek car.

There were also small things that pleased him. As Remus was fond of going to the movie theater with Sirius, often feeling like the immature teenager he never fully got to be as the two of them swapped not so discreet kisses and the like in the back of the theater.

The quiet nights alone at home when James was out could be relaxing or adventurous, as neither of them knew how to cook very well. Remus found himself enjoying their little escapades in the kitchen, even if they had to go out to eat later because the mess that they had created was not entirely edible.

Remus sighed in content, smiling slightly to himself and leaned his forehead against the shower wall. He closed his eyes and let the hot water, turning his skin a rosy red, run over his body and swirl down the drain.

He had never known a love like this before. It was a pure and joyous thing, to be treasured for the rest of his life. He was lucky to have met a man like Sirius Black and to be loved by him. He only hoped that he would never have to be without him again.

–

Sirius had to try very hard to ignore the pointed look from James as the other wizard glared at him as he left thought he front door. He knew that James was upset with him, becoming increasingly more frustrated and impatient with every day that passed where in Remus Lupin remained alive and well. Hoping that James wouldn't be impatient enough to take any matters into his own hands, Sirius set to making breakfast with his mind set on the younger boy upstairs.

It was the only thing he was good at. Cooking wise, at any rate. He could make superb eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and the ever easy and always perfect accent: toast. Today, he set to making all of these things. He paid special attention to every detail of his meal because he wanted to make something special—

—_For Remus' last day—_

He thought he could treat the younger boy to a home cooked meal at least once a day for the last seven days of his existence.

With the events of the past week, Sirius was almost able to forget about the gruesome task assigned to him and instead focused on the relationship he could have been building with the tawny haired werewolf all long. For the first time he found himself appreciating the relationship that he was losing. Remus was a wonderful person who he could see himself with for the remainder of his life.

_Well the remainder of Remus' life at any rate._

The week, however, was at a close. Remus' week, and with it his life, were coming to an abrupt halt.

–

"Is it warm enough in here?" Sirius asked, himself burning up.

Remus, already curled under all four of the blankets that Sirius had taken from the closet just for him, rolled to the side and grinned out at Sirius from the center of his warm cocoon.

"It's so perfect."

"I'm glad someone thinks so," Sirius laughed quietly, shutting the door behind him and setting the large breakfast tray on the night stand.

"What's this?" Remus asked, craning toward the food and sitting up straight, dwarfed by the mismatched quilts draped around his shoulders. "Breakfast? In bed again?"

"For dinner," Sirius answered, lying on top of the blankets beside Remus. He cradled his head in a hand supported by a bent elbow and pulled the blankets off of Remus carefully.

"Sirius," the werewolf shivered, retreating toward the older man for warmth. "S'cold."

Sirius laughed again, this time against his neck, maneuvering Remus to lay on top of him and stroked his hair behind his ears.

"I'll keep you warm."

Remus squirmed against him, finally settling and kissing the tip of Sirius' nose. He relaxed when he found that his teacher was not going to let him pull the blankets up again, giving it up as a seemingly lost cause.

"What about breakfast? Dinner, I mean. It'll get cold."

Sirius sighed and sat up, resting Remus between his bent legs and pulled the breakfast tray over.

"Is that all you can think about?" He teased softly. "Food? When I'm right here?"

Remus blushed and nibbled on a end of toast that Sirius waved in front of his face. He took it from the other wizard and reclined back into Sirius' warm body.

"I'm hungry," ever polite, Remus said after he had swallowed. "You're not going anywhere, are you? I just thought I'd eat while it was hot."

"I suppose I'm not going anywhere now."

"Where were you planning on going?"

"Nowhere."

_Because I wouldn't miss these moments for anything._

Remus sighed contently and twisted slightly in Sirius' arms so that they circled comfortably around his waist.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"As soon as you're done stuffing your face. As always the gentleman says, ladies first."

Remus scowled playfully and smeared jam across Sirius' lips with his thumb. "Ha, ha. So original."

"I know, I'm sure you've heard it before," Sirius smirked and ran his tongue across his lips.

_Yum. Strawberry. Does Remus like strawberry?_

"I'm not stooping to your level."

"Have it your way," Sirius murmured and kissed the side of Remus' neck gently.

"Sirius, that tickles," Remus moaned, twisting around fully, his sense of cold forgotten.

"I do need a shave," Sirius said softly, pulling back slightly and rubbing at the stubble shadowing his chin and around his jaw.

Remus just made a content sound in the back of his throat and leaned further into Sirius.

"I like you either way, just as long as you're right here."

"Do you...love me?" Sirius asked, stoking the werewolf's hair as he rested his chin on Sirius' shoulder.

"I don't really know what it's supposed to feel like," Remus' voice was muffled in the fabric of Sirius' shirt and he nibbled on the cotton to ease the beginnings of pain in his teeth. "But I imagine it's different for everyone. We make our own love, something like that. This is my love."

Sirius sighed and placed his hand on the back of Remus' head, coaxing him forward more until he could feel Remus' teeth, sharp and painful, on the flesh of his shoulder. A greater pain for him and a greater relief for Remus as his teeth snapped at something more solid.

"Do you think you could...die happy? Right now? Would you die loving me?"

"I'm not much for clichés...but I suppose that this one fits properly. That I really could die happy. And loving you, too," Remus said quietly.

Sirius swallowed thickly, holding the werewolf for a moment more before forcing himself to let go and separate from Remus.

"Sorry," Sirius said upon seeing the disappointed and hurt expression on Remus' face. "I've gotta go to the bathroom. Why don't you eat before it gets cold? I'll be right back."

He couldn't even look at Remus as he finished speaking. The ordeal was proving to be much too painful. Sirius left the room, mind set with determination and coupled with misery. He had no sooner entered the hallway than to see James, leaning against the wall across from the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression casual and patient.

"Did you—"

"Would I be this clam?" Sirius hissed lowly.

"Sirius—"

"I am, okay? I'm doing," Sirius broke off with a choke in the back of his throat. "_It," _he spat, pulling the pistol from the concealed holster on his body and shoved it at James.

"I though you said it's too messy—"

"I did," Sirius said through gritted teeth as he drew his wand instead and looked straight at the stretch of wall over James' shoulder.

"Just give me a moment," Sirius hissed at last, rubbing at his temples and closing his eyes.

"Do you want me to leave you alone?"

Sirius nodded silently, collection himself and listening for James' retreating footsteps. He was relieved that James left him alone without any more arguments and was relieved to have the pistol removed from his possession. It was too heavy, too realistic.

He considered waiting another few minutes to give Remus the chance to eat breakfast for dinner before realizing that it wouldn't matter much either way. Was it any different to die on an empty stomach than it was on a full one?

He peered around the door jam silently, wondering if Remus had taken his suggestion and finished off his final meal. The tray remained untouched on the night stand and the bed was unmade and empty. His heart jumped, childishly thinking that Remus had figured everything out and fled, until his eyes landed on the younger boy.

Remus' back was turned toward him and he was studying the articles on top of his dresser. The pictures of James and him and then the numerous ones dedicated to Apollo.

Remus turned when he heard Sirius' approach, his delighted face quickly turning into one of confusing and fear as Sirius pushed him back against the dresser violently.

"Sirius—" Remus gasped, wincing as the knobs from the dresser dug into the small of his back. The pictures atop the dresser were disturbed from their folding arms and fell flat on their frames. Remus heard the small jar with the assorted coins fall to the floor, its contents spilling with a muted sound against the plush carpet.

"Remus. Shut. Up," Sirius said quietly with the calmest of voices.

A hurt look shadowed Remus' face before being replaced by one of the utmost fear as Sirius leveled his wand to the werewolf's forehead.

"What are—"

Sirius silenced his victim by placing a cold hand over his questioning mouth. Remus only struggled weakly, unwilling to push Sirius away, and closed his hands around Sirius' wrist.

"This is hard enough, can't you see that?" Sirius explained, his wand arm steady. "I don't need your mouth to add to that difficulty."

Remus nipped at the palm of his hand and yelped when Sirius maneuvered them so that Remus' back slammed into the wall next to the dresser.

"You know why I have to do this," Sirius said, licking his lips. He was more addressing himself than he was Remus, his hand tightening on his wand in firm resolve. "It's not my fault. It has to be this way."

His hand, the one bound to Remus' mouth fell limp at his side.

"What is this, Sirius?" Remus asked, his voice straining to remain calm.

"The end, Remus. One final lesson."

"What do you want me to do, Sir?" Remus whispered, unwilling to give himself over to the desperation that he felt and the tears burning in the corners of his eyes.

"Close your eyes. That's all I want you do to. Close your eyes, Remus."

"I don't understand," Remus murmured, his eyes sliding shut slowly. His hands released his professor's wrist and went instead to the wall behind him, bracing himself.

_Maybe it's the best way,_ Sirius thought to himself, his steady resolve already quickly leaving him until he was left with a strong will screaming against the very action be was preparing to do.

"I love you, Remus. _Avada Kadevra_."

--


	31. Chapter 31

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

-

It ended with a thud.

James had abandoned his position leaning casually against the opposite wall in favor of a more anxious one. His body was pressed tight against Sirius' bedroom door and his hands had curled into fists where they rested tensely on the wood.

He had not wanted to enter, in case he interrupt and cause Sirius to lose his will power to finish things so efficiently. And yet, at the same time, he couldn't stand being on the outside while all of the action was currently taking place on the other side of such a simple obstruction.

James glanced at his watch as soon as he heard Remus' body fall to the floor. It would prove to be a sound that he would easily forget by the time he went to bad at night. For Sirius, it would prove to be a sound that would haunt him for the remainder of his life.

_Six thirty-four,_ James noted, storing the time of death mentally and inwardly cursing that he was missing his show on the television.

He stood back slightly from the door and absentmindedly played with his watch with the opposite hand. He briefly debated knocking on the door or calling Sirius' name. It only took him a moment to reject this idea before he turned and started back down the hallway toward the kitchen. He alternated between glancing over his shoulder and walking a few tentative paces backwards.

James reached the kitchen where the luminous sun was spilling rays through the window for still a little bit longer in one of his backwards trances. He almost bumped into the table and only managed to save himself with a hastily and somewhat awkward correction.

He pulled out the first chair at the table, the one that faced away from the hallway and thus faced away from the bedroom door. His chair. James moved away from this chair and instead opted for the one where Sirius normally sat. The one that faced the direction of the hallway.

James pulled his wand out and summoned a blank sheet of paper to him, already crafting the words in his head as it settled neatly in front of him. He had the first four sentences fully formed and committed to memory by the time he withdrew a pen from the jar on the counter behind him.

With a steady hand, James set ink to paper and began his detailed report to Quarry about the murder—disposal, he would use instead because it sounds much more..._professional—_of Remus Lupin and of the details concerning the remainder of pay that was owed to them through the completion of the contract.

–

Remus Lupin, when he thought of such things in both the philosophical realm and that of practical reality, had never imagined that this would be death.

He always supposed that it would be painless, like what dying in a dream was often like. He also wasn't a big believer in any sort of after life. His mother had been gone for a long time, and for his entire life he had never felt her presence as he had got the impression that he was suppose to. The only reason they attended the little church at the top of their street was because it gave his father, who had dealt more closely with the death of his wife, some relief that she was being well taken care of.

Death was on odd thing, Remus decided as he brought a steady hand to the back of his head. He had hit it hard on the way down on the corner of Sirius' dresser.

Death was a _cruel _thing, Remus realized as pain rippled first sharply and then in dull, continuous waves in the back of his head. His fingers came away bloody and he held them in front of his face in disbelief.

He touched his extended index finger lightly against the tip of his nose. Remus sighed as he felt the warm blood smear against his skin. His hand withdrew from his nose and trailed down to his mouth. The taste was strong and metallic in his mouth.

Death, it seemed, hated him.

–

Sirius' wand was in danger of falling from his increasingly limp grip. His legs were threatening to collapse from under him and he stumbled backwards until his knees folded when he met the resistance of his bed. His heart, which had been on the upbeat ever since he had first entered the room with the breakfast tray, was now positively leaping from chest to throat.

Chest.

Throat.

Chest.

Throat.

It seemed to stick there.

He dropped his wand into the numerous folds of his blankets which weren't even his at all but Remus' _they had Remus' scent all over them everywhere it was overwhelming it made him want to curl under those blankets and_—

Remus was looking straight ahead, slightly to his left, with those lifeless eyes—

_I killed him._

—at the other empty wall across from him. His head was cocked at an awkward angle, knocked severely askew from his fall.

_Killed him._

Sirius watched in some kin to horrid fascination as Remus' eyes blinked, a brown flicker, and his hand reached around to the back of his head.

"Remus," he whispered, the formation of the other's name inaudible.

The younger boy—the _dead boy—_looked utterly ridiculous with that red smear across his nose. It was that spot, more than anything, that was able to weakly motivate Sirius to his feet. Disbelievingly, he watched as Remus' fingers moved from his nose to his mouth. His pink tongue darted out against his finger tip and his eyes closed.

"Remus?" Sirius repeated, louder this time as he crouched down in front of the werewolf.

He reached out a tentative hand and brushed Remus' hair out of his eyes.

Remus' reflexes reacted at one, processing the threat and responding immediately. He latched onto Sirius' extended wrist, dug his fingernails into the flesh, and opened his eyes.

Sirius yelped, falling from his position on the balls of his feet to rock back onto his ankles. He attempted to wrench his wrist away, only to have Remus' grip strengthen, causing his nails to drag painfully across the skin.

Remus used his grip to pull himself up. He drew himself closer to Sirius and brought their faces inches apart.

"What did you do?" Remus hissed, realizing that death was not his friend and had rejected him bitterly by the way Sirius was reacting to him.

"I—I killed you," Sirius said with a voice approaching awe and reached his free arm toward Remus again.

The werewolf batted it away impatiently and transferred his grip from Sirius' wrist to the nape of his neck. He pressed their foreheads together and growled in the back of his throat.

"You killed me? Do I look dead?"

"Remus—"

"What's wrong with you?" Remus hissed, pushing Sirius violently away and using the dresser he had hit his head on to pull himself to his feet. "Don't touch me," he snapped when Sirius moved to help him.

"It...didn't work."

"I could figure that out by myself, thanks," Remus snarled, trying to hide a strong sense of fear under what was only a film of anger and a mountain of betrayal. He stripped off his bed clothes and replaced them quickly without really caring what he was putting on or how well they fit.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, opting to stand a few feet behind Remus instead of confronting the other intimately as was his desire. "You can't leave."

"Well, I can't stay with someone who wants to kill me, now can I? That would be close to suicidal."

"It was an accident," Sirius pleaded, hoping if he denied it enough, Remus would come to believe him and they could go on living as if none of this had ever happened.

Remus spun around quickly and slapped Sirius across the face with an open palm.

"Don't you dare," Remus started quietly, his voice containing the slightest of wavers. "Call it an accident. I thought I meant more to you than that."

"You mean—"

"Shut up."

Sirius felt a shadow of hurt and was only able to vaguely understand the hurt that Remus must be feeling.

"Just please tell me where you're going, Remus. Please."

Sirius trailed behind Remus as he walked down the hallway and toward the kitchen. Remus snorted as he bent beside the door by the kitchen to tie his shoes.

"Tell you? Why? So you can finish the job? You're all so sadistic. So fucking sadistic. You're just like him," Remus said as he straightened up with his hand gripping the door knob.

James, who had been sitting quietly at the table signing his name on his letter to Quarry and melting the wax to seal the envelop, looked between Remus and Sirius with his mouth slightly open. His hand that held the seal stamp aloft hovered over the letter and hot wax dripped onto the paper. The letter that he had written to Quarry, proclaiming Remus Lupin's death and the details of it. The same Remus Lupin who now defied the words of that letter by even breathing.

Remus paused in his exit and half turned back to face Sirius.

"But you know what...you're not like him at all. You're worse. I just never knew you'd go to such lengths to harm me. I didn't think you were capable," Remus said, the anger leaving his voice to be replaced with sadness. Sirius felt the weight of the werewolf's words as if they were a single blow, a heavy one that hit him square in the chest and left him winded.

Sirius did not, nor could not, stop Remus as he shut the door behind him and trudged across the lawn like he was the world's single most burden ladled person. His head was low and his hands were deep in his pockets. Sirius watched him from the window beside the door and James' hot wax splattered onto the paper once more.

"Who's he talking about? Why is he _talking_? Sirius, dead people don't talk or walk or accuse or do _any_ of the things that supposedly dead boy just did," James hissed, finally setting the seal down and pushing his chair back.

Sirius was silent, his eyes watched Remus as the other boy stepped over the low stone wall meant entirely for decoration and headed for the direction of what could either lead him to the ocean, the road, or the near by woods. Sirius contemplated which way he would decide to go and his fingers tightened around the window sill.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me? God dammit, Sirius. I _heard you_. I head him fall. What did you_ do_?"

"It's what I couldn't do," Sirius said quietly, his breath fogging a small patch on the window. It faded quickly only to be replaced as Sirius strained closer to the window, trying in vane for another look at the person who had just walked out of his life.

"What?" James said, voice rising near hysteria, his calm facade slipping, and moved toward Sirius. He gripped the other wizard by the shoulders and turned him fully away from the window.

"Leave him," James snarled. "Maybe he'll find a way to kill himself."

Sirius pushed James away, wondering how he had never noticed this particular side of his friend before and gave him a disgusted look.

"I said I couldn't do it."

"I _heard you do it—_"

"I didn't mean it!" Sirius screamed, moving close to James so that their brows were almost together. "How many times have I told you? _You've got to mean it._ This wouldn't be so damn hard if all I had to do was say a few magic words and _poof_. All done. _It's not that goddamn easy. You've got to really mean it._"

"Well, great. That's just wonderful," James sighed in exasperation as he turned away from Sirius and snatched his letter to Quarry off of the table. The ink shown wetly under the glare from the kitchen lights.

"What am I supposed to do with this? He's expecting it."

"What is it?" Sirius growled as he pulled his own shoes on hastily, bending the backs and knotting the laces together quickly.

"A confirmation to Quarry."

Sirius looked up at James with his jaw set in a firm line.

"Send it."

"But it—"

"He doesn't need to know. Just make sure he hears what he's expecting. Send it. Now."

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? I can't just let him wander around by himself. He doesn't even have a clue where he's going."

"Let him go, he'll come back when he's hungry."

"I think you're forgetting that I just tried to kill him, James. He's not coming back."

"Apollo always does—"

"Don't you dare," Sirius snarled, rounding from the door quickly. "Compare them. That's not on, James. At all." Sirius paused, and half turned away from James. Don't forget to feed Appy, yeah?"

"I hate playing dog sitter."

"Thanks, James," Sirius said with his back turned to James as he shut the door.

–

_God, why is this so hard?_

_Because he went into the woods._

_I should have been able to find him pretty quickly. I mean...he only left about...a minute or so before I did._

_You won't find him. Because he went into the woods._

_Maybe James was right. Maybe Remus'll just come home on his own._

_But he won't. Because he went into those damn woods and now he's lost and upset because you tried to kill him, idiot._

Sirius hadn't known it was possible to become so angry with yourself, but right now he knew that self hatred to be absolutely possible to the point of physical self harm. Right now that self hatred pounded dully at the cavity of his skull over his right eye and made him close his eyes in pain and concentration.

When he opened them again the forest lay stretching for miles before him. It's dense trees swayed in the light breeze that was whipping from the water that lined the other side of the house. Within these woods, Sirius was more than positive, Remus had managed to make himself disappear.

The only problem was that the woods were thick and vast and it was already quickly getting dark. He'd already wasted two hours searching the perimeter of the house, up and down the narrow road that led into the small local village, and then the village proper. Remus had remained evasive.

Sirius wondered vaguely if Remus had been able to contact his father and had gone home. He had dismissed this possibility almost immediately. If Remus had told John then Sirius was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could have expected some sort of confrontation by now. If the man had hit him over hurting his son's _feelings_, then damn. Sirius didn't want to think about what would happen to him if John Lupin found out he had tried to _kill_ his son.

"I'd be a dead man. A very dead man," Sirius whispered with certainty and started into the woods.

–

From his carefully chosen perch in the apple tree in the backyard, Remus watched Sirius regard the fathomless depths of the forest and wondered what he was thinking about.

_He's wondering if I'll die in there._

_Wrong. He's _hoping_ that you'll die in there._

Remus frowned and shifted so that the bark of the tree stabbed his other leg instead of the one that had already been rendered numb from falling asleep. He wished that Moony, that small sadistic part of his mind that always seemed to drag out the worst in any situation, would keep his own thoughts to himself.

Remus wondered if Sirius was doing magic down there. Sending out some kind of pulse that would return and tell him if he, Remus, was in those woods. Remus decided that either he wasn't or Sirius wasn't as good at magic as he had at first thought because his teacher headed into the woods.

_My assassin._

Remus waited a few minutes until he could be sure that Sirius would neither see nor hear him and slipped down from the apple tree. He waited where he landed, but when the trees from the forest only swayed back and forth and nothing more sinister happened he crept back toward the kitchen door. He waited quietly under the window and when he heard no noises from within he chanced a glance through the window.

The kitchen beyond was empty and equally dark. Remus briefly wondered if James was out was well as he let himself into the house that he used to think of as a home.

–


	32. Chapter 32

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Sirius wasn't typically plagued by bouts of paranoia. If he were, then he wouldn't have been able to keep such a relativity sane mindset through the years of his profession. He always tried to project the perfectly clam air of a confident and calculating man. It was this very projection had always done wonders for squelching his own tornado of inner turmoil. He wasn't used to playing by anyone's rules but his own. And these conditions were far from his planned scenario.

The wand clenched in the palm of his hand had stealthily become slick with sweat—

_When did that happen?_

—and he felt an uneasy turn in the pit of his stomach where rabid anxiety churned violently—

_Where are you, Remus?_

Sirius' tongue darted out and licked his lips as he looked vaguely around him. Everything looked the same. Thick trees and leaves, vegetation rot and stones blanketing the grass underfoot. He couldn't remember feeling this uneasy since—

_God, the school. All that blood. And the screams—_

—he didn't think he'd ever forget the screams—

Sirius called Remus' name and the sound echoed through the hollow briefly before it was swallowed whole by the sound of silence—

_Remus. Remus. Remus. God, what have I done?_

He would never forget the way that Remus had looked at him, defeated on the floor, face pale—

_So pale._

–a cocktail of fear, hurt, and anger.

He would never forget that look.

–

Remus had never felt so much resolve in his entire life. He descended quietly from his hiding spot and darted toward the house. It was difficult to force his breathing to be slow and clam and his feet to avoid anything that would give away his location. He paused only briefly outside the kitchen door, saw that it was dark and uninhabited, and pushed the door open.

As the door swung inward on its hinges, it made the slightest of sounds and triggered the fast click of nails on hard wood. Remus closed the door behind him and regarded Apollo across the kitchen for only a second before pulling all of the blinds on the windows closed against the last dieing light of the sun.

Apollo followed him on his short trek around the kitchen, sniffing at his legs and wagging his tail lazily. Remus pulled a slice of bread from the bread basket and held the salivating dog's attention more closely.

"Sorry boy, it'll only be for a little while," Remus whispered as he lead Apollo down the hallway and then threw the bread into Jame's room.

The big dog tramped after it and Remus closed the bedroom door behind him. Half of the slice already devoured, Apollo didn't seem to mind much.

Once back in the kitchen, Remus let his eyes wander the counter top until they fell on something that would suit him just fine—the ornately carved wooden storage block that held a dozen or so sharp, ivory handled knives—

_Didn't Sirius say they had been a house warming gift? _Remus wondered vaguely as he pulled the largest one from its proper place and inspected it with an emotionless expression and a rapidly beating heart that betrayed the cool mask.

_This thing is lethal._

Lethal was not how the marketing team would have described it—high quality performance was the term they preferred—but Remus thought it fit perfectly for the shinny, sharp, eight inch blade.

His emotionless facade began to slip and falter and the hand holding the knife began to tremble. Remus dropped the knife and the sound it made echoed in the empty house. He brought his hands up and covered his face, wishing Sirius would have done the job properly and simply killed him.

In death there would be no betrayal.

–

If Sirius hadn't thought he was lost an hour ago he knew it now. It was dark in the woods and, if possible, the trees seemed to become denser.

Never before had Sirius realized, much less appreciated, how big the woods behind their home were. The only real notion of the woods Sirius had ever grasped was the narrow, idealistic path that stretched some three hundred yards into the woods. Even that wasn't a fair representation of the thick woods. He always had it professionally cleared and cleaned twice a year, so that the wild element of reality was always missing during his few and short voyages into the woods.

He certainly had a better grasp of the realistic size now.

Sirius had already lost track of how long he had been wandering around looking for Remus. Not for the first time, Sirius wondered if Remus was somewhere else entirely.

"I'm sorry," he called into the trees.

Sirius stopped walking, his pants torn and ragged at the hem from his long ramblings through the woods. There were tangles of weeds sticking to his clothes and a few caught in his hair.

"Point me," he hissed at his wand and started wearily in the direction that it now pointed, straight and rigid.

As Sirius picked his way through the undergrowth, while attempting to remain as faithful to his wand as possible, Sirius started to try and blame someone for the entire situation.

_Myself_, he though numbly. _This is all my fault._

Sirius mentally shook the thought from his head and crossed the dried out stream bed that cut through the woods.

_No, Remus. If he hadn't run, we could be in bed together right now, everything explained away, almost asleep—_

_You really believe that, don't you? _He heard a second voice creep uninvited into his psyche.

Sirius supposed that was completely irrational.

_Quarry's fault, he's the one that gave me the job._

That inner scoff—_Who accepted the job?_

_If James hadn't made me—_

_Whoa, whoa, wait_, that irritating voice had went from cynical to amused. _He was the uneasy one, what with so little information. Said you were a killer, not a detective. Remember?_

Sirius stopped, starring straight ahead. He had gone off track, his wand pointed in the opposite direction of his blank stare, his feeble reasoning coming full circle.

"It's my fault," Sirius said quietly, pulled his arms closer to his body to fend off the cold, and set off toward home.

–

Remus stared at his reflection in the darkened bathroom mirror. The blood that had slowly trickled from the wound on the back of his head had already dried on his skin and matted his hair. He had been able to successfully ignore the steady and dull ache that had centered at the back of his head where it had collided with the dresser with the help of the adrenaline that had been steadily coursing through his veins.

He brought a tentative finger to the wound and flinched. What was worse than the dried blood was the pale and frightened boy that was looking back at him from the mirror; he could hardly recognize himself. Cringing, Remus grasped the mirror firmly on both sides and pulled it free from the wall. It came off with an unexpected jerk and, losing his grip, it fell and shattered on the floor.

"What have you done to me?" Remus whispered in a hoarse voice to his broken reflection.

–

_The bastard bought it. He really did. What a sucker. _James thought as he crossed the protective barrier surrounding his shared and secluded property.

For the third time since leaving Quarry's private underground facility James counted the remainder of the contract pay. Pay day was a grand thing – especially when the job wasn't even completed.

_What's it matter? Kid's gonna die out there of exposure anyway._

James finished counting the currency and placed the small envelope in the interior pocket of his coat.

"Sirius? Are you back yet mate?" James called as he stepped into the empty house and shut the door behind him. "Where are you?"

James kicked off his shoes and left them beside the door. He withdrew the heavy payment from his coat and then shrugged it off.

"Sirius, come on! I've got the good stuff! When do you want to start shopping for our new vacation home?" James threw the envelope onto the kitchen table and checked the sink for dirty dishes.

The sink was empty. If Sirius was home, he hadn't eaten. James sighed, hopefully a new vacation home would help pull Sirius out of his oncoming depression.

"I'll even make dinn—" James started and finished with a scream.

A sharp and rugged piece of glass dug painfully into his throat. His hands instinctively went to his throat and latched onto the hand curled around the jagged weapon.

"Don't move."

"R-Remus? What are you—"

"Don't talk," Remus hissed, tightening his grip around James' neck with one arm and around the shard of glass with his bleeding hand. "I will kill you if I have to. You mean nothing to me. Tap your foot once if you understand me."

James hesitated and then forced himself past his terror at his own mortality and tapped his foot against the floor.

"Good. Is your wand on you? Tap your foot once if it is." Remus' tongue darted out to wet his dried lips and dug the shard in slightly harder until a single crimson drop broke the skin and beaded on the glass.

James gasped; this time there was no hesitation when he tapped his foot against the floor.

"Left pocket?"

James didn't move. Remus waited a moment before asking his next question.

"Right pocket?"

James' foot tapped on the floor.

"Don't move."

Remus reached down slowly and pulled the wand from James' pocket. He inspected in closely and placed in into his own.

"Anything else on you I should know about? Once for yes, twice for no. You will gain nothing by lying to me."

Tap. Tap.

_You psycho. You're utterly mad. What have you done to Sirius?_

"Good. We're moving to the table."

Remus carefully kicked one of the chairs away from the table and moved with James as he directed him to sit down. He used his teeth to pull a suit tie that was loosely tied around his wrist free and used it to bind James' hands together, it took a few minutes longer than it would have normally, because Remus was determined to keep complete control over the situation by keeping the glass pressed firmly against James' throat.

"Good," Remus said, finally removing the glass shard from James' neck and pulling a chair out so that he could sit directly across from James.

"What do you know about the Patronus Charm?"

James blinked in surprise and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"It's highly advanced magic and unique to the caster."

"And?"

"It's a pure projection of positive energy."

"What do you know about the Patronus Charm and sending messages?"

"What do you want—"

"I want you to send a message to someone for me."

"Alright."

"Can you do that?"

"Yes." James eyed the glass apprehensively and wondered if there was anyway for him to get out of his current situation.

"Good."

"What do you want me to send." A defeated statement rather than a question.

Remus leaned back in his chair and felt, finally, that he had the situation under his control.

–


	33. Chapter 33

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

Sirius stumbled out of the forest breathing heavily and with perspiration thick upon his skin. Not for the first time that day was he fiercely regretting expanding the anti-Apparation wards into the dense woods.

_It always seemed like a good idea,_ Sirius thought, and even his brief inner monologue sounded winded.

In his rush, his foot failed to clear the low garden wall and forced Sirius to break his fall with his hands. He had managed to keep a tight grip on his wand, even though his palm was slick with sweat. His eyes never left the house even as he fell and stood up. It was so close. The house was only three hundred or so feet away, a short stroll, but it still seemed to be beyond his reach.

"Remus," Sirius panted, ignoring the scrapes stinging his hands. He glanced shortly at his wand and then threw it to the ground.

_If you come armed with your wand or anything else that I deem a weapon, I'll kill him,_ James' somber eyed stag had told him in Remus' cold voice.

"I never meant to hurt you," Sirius whispered fruitlessly to the Patronus that acted as a one way conduit between senders and recipients.

Sirius shook his head to clear the past hour from his immediate focus. He had a new goal now, one that was easily in reach. He did not need his wand to open the door that opened into the kitchen. It was already open, and the room within was dark and lonesome.

–

Remus sat on the unmade bed that he had shared for so many nights with Sirius and slowly looked through a photo album that he had found in Sirius' top dresser drawer. There were a lot of pictures of Sirius and James, smiling happily and waving exuberantly, and still many more of people that Remus did not recognize.

A glint of light flickered across his emotionless face and caused him to stiffen and jump to his feet. The photo album dropped from the folds of the blanket and landed on its cover on the floor. Remus' hand shot for the glass shard that he had placed between his belt and waistband and clenched it in his wounded hand.

Fresh drops of crimson blood beaded from the cut on his hand and fell to join the dried blood that already stained the carpet. Across the room, James' eyes had opened wide and he bit nervously at the makeshift terrycloth gag that pulled at the corners of his mouth. Remus didn't so much as look at him as he crept to the door and took a quick survey of the hallway. Satisfied that it was empty, Remus retreated back into the bedroom.

As the adrenaline slowly tapered off, Remus couldn't help but wince at the pain in his wounded palm as he relaxed his grip on the shard of glass. His shoulders remained tensed like the other strained muscles in his body.

"Are you trying anything funny?" Remus hissed at James, bending down to kneel so that they could be at the same eye level with one another.

James fervently shook his head and his denial was rapid and muffled. Remus frowned slightly and then slipped the piece of splintered glass back between his belt. The sweat on James' forehead gleamed unnaturally. Remus grabbed the back of the chair James was bound to and dragged him across the bedroom to the attached bathroom.

Remus pushed the chair into the bathroom and straightened up, panting slightly.

"Don't make a sound," Remus said after regaining his breath. "Nothing. I want complete silence."

James regarded his captor silently. A trail of sweat ran into his eye and he squinted it shut in pain.

"Do you understand? Not a sound."

James nodded slowly and felt himself relaxing when he realized that Remus was going to leave him here alone.

"No matter what you hear you cannot make a sound."

James agreed again and winced as the rope holding his hands behind his back chaffed against his skin.

Remus paused with his hand on the door knob when the faint glimmer of light danced across his face for a second time. He narrowed his eyes at the source of the light which hung around James' neck.

"Are you a religious man, James?" Remus murmured.

James didn't answer and his eyes widened as Remus slowly approached him.

Remus stopped about a foot in front of James and regarded him solemnly. At last he sighed and turned away from the dark haired man to rummage through the tall cabinet in one corner of the bathroom.

Nervous with fright, James shook his head while Remus' back was to him in a pointless attempt to brush his sweaty hair out of his eyes. His anxiety increased when Remus moved from the medicine cabinet to the porcelain sink. Very distantly he heard the water pour into the basin. The sound made him sick to his stomach and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his hazel eyes fell upon Remus, who was not only kneeling before him but was also extremely close.

James took a sharp intake of breath and attempted to lean back as far as he could as Remus tilted toward him and reached a hand out to his face.

Remus sighed and rocked back on his heels, the small gold cross on a thin chain dangled between his fingers.

"Will you relax? You've done everything I've asked you to, why would I hurt you?" Remus shook his head and placed the necklace on the granite counter top behind him. He picked up the wet wash cloth beside him and used it to mop the perspiration from James' forehead.

"You sure do sweat a lot," Remus remarked, his eyes watching as his still warm blood bloomed onto the white cloth; the sharply contrasting colors made his head spin.

"Where the hell is he?" Remus growled, more to himself than to James and brushed James' bangs back from his face. James shrugged quickly in response and worried the gag in his mouth.

Remus straightened up, dropped the wash cloth in the sink and headed once more for the door. He opened it half way then turned in place and placed a finger against his lips. James nodded back at him and, for the first time since Remus had apprehended him, relaxed as the werewolf left the room.

–

Remus closed the bathroom door behind him and glanced at the clock on Sirius' bed side table. It was a little past an hour that he had sent the Patronus to Sirius. If Sirius didn't show up soon he would have to get James to send another message.

_Damn, it would be so much easier if I could just do the spell myself—_ Remus' inner voice died suddenly as a familiar smell struck him. It was rich and full and it also made him feel very, very cold.

"Coffee."

–

"Stains," Sirius murmured as he traced the small drops of blood that had already congealed on the hardwood floor in the kitchen. He swiped his thumb over one of the dried droplets of blood, wondering what type of injury it had come from.

"Remus."

Crouched on the floor over the dark stains as thought they were some sacred artifact to be guarded, Sirius' heart stopped cold in his chest.

The normally faint and quiet sound was magnified by the complete silence. Sirius' gaze traveled slowly from the fresh blood dripping to the floor, up to the hand where the blood was falling from, to the face of the boy whose blood he was crouched over.

"Remus"

It was as if the whispered name had summoned the werewolf to him. Remus stood silently and motionlessly in the archway to the kitchen, his broken mirror clutched in his hand like a talisman. The edges of the glass were slick with blood and Remus had become oblivious to the constant throbbing in his palm when he realized that Sirius was home at last.

"You're hurt," Sirius said, raising slowly and advancing on his student.

"Stop right there," Remus growled when Sirius had closed half the distance between them. "That's close enough."

"What happened? Are you alright?" The dark haired man asked, his step hesitant for only a moment before he started forward again.

"I'm warning you," Remus snapped, taking a step back and leveling his weapon in front of him.

Sirius continued to slowly advance, both hands now raised above his head to communicate that he had no intention of hurting the younger boy.

"Calm down," Sirius murmured, now only a few paces away from the werewolf. "We need to talk—"

"Damn right we do." Remus' back hit the wall in the hallway and knew that he could go no further.

_Can't run forever,_ Remus thought and gritted his teeth. _Now or never._

Sirius was close when Remus lunged at him and only managed to subdue the other after a few lacerations stung his arms.

"God damn, Remus," Sirius hissed between clenched teeth. The younger boy struggled as Sirius pinned his arms behind him and fought the shard of glass away from his grasping fingers. Remus yelled in frustration as the glass fell from his hand and Sirius kicked it away down the hall.

Struggling violently Remus managed to free one of his arms and used the remainder of his fading strength to push his assailant away from him. The force caused Sirius to collide with a small table in the hallway; the lamp atop the table rocked and fell to the floor where it shattered.

Remus managed to dart into the kitchen, fight forgotten as his instincts revered back to the coveted flight response. In the hallway, Sirius lurched to his feet ungracefully and ran into the kitchen.

"Remus, wait!" Sirius yelled when the werewolf's hand settled on the door knob.

_Right back where we started._

"Why should I?" Remus asked coldly, his chest heaving. "So that I can give you a chance to finish what you started? I don't think so."

"It's complicated, okay?" Sirius panted, not daring to take another step into the room least it cause Remus to bolt outside. "But I can explain. I don't want to hurt you. Look," he showed Remus his empty hands and then also his bare sleeves and empty pockets. "I have no weapon to hurt you with—"

"Your bare hands?"

Sirius sighed in defeat and lowered both his hands and his head. He sloughed across the kitchen to the table in the middle and collapsed into one of the chairs.

"I really am sorry," he said, speaking to the table top. "I know that you are scared and confused." Sirius' voice trailed off sadly and he looked up at Remus.

He was surprised to find, not an empty room as he had anticipated, but that Remus was still standing beside the door. What was more was that Remus' hand, the bleeding one, had relinquished the door knob and instead hung limply at his side. Remus' bright amber eyes watched Sirius curiously as the older man sighed and stood up.

_I should be afraid. I should be running,_ Remus thought weakly. _But I'm...I'm not..._

"Afraid."

"Hm? Come again?" Sirius asked as he wrung a wash cloth out at the sink.

"Nothing," Remus murmured, crossing his arms awkwardly in front of him. "You tired to kill me. I should be terrified of you—"

"But you're not," Sirius finished simply. Remus startled to find that, while he had been preoccupied with his thoughts, Sirius had appeared before him to tend to his wounded hand.

The werewolf flinched as the older man applied pressure to his bleeding hand. Remus watched Sirius closely as he dabbed at the cut.

"You know, if I had my wand I could—"

"No."

"Remus, you're bleeding—"

"I said no," Remus said firmly, yanking his hand away from Sirius' caring grasp. He inhaled sharply at the pain the movement caused.

"Stop being stubborn."

Sirius led him by the elbow to the kitchen table. Remus hesitated for a moment before allowing himself to be guided. Sirius pulled a chair out for him and helped him sit down.

"I'm not helpless," Remus said weakly but did not protest as Sirius began to diligently clean the werewolf's hand. Remus was silent as Sirius stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound, and disappeared for a few minutes to get bandages.

They both sat silently as Sirius wrapped Remus hand, both sets of eyes focused intently on Sirius' hands as he worked.

"So ah..." Sirius started awkwardly. "You're keeping James in the bathroom?"

Remus looked up at him slowly with emotionless eyes.

"Not that he deserves any better," Sirius interjected quickly and finished bandaging the younger boy's hand. Remus moved his hand into his lap and flexed his fingers carefully. His lips moved in response, but Sirius was unable to make out the quiet reply.

"Sorry?"

"I said thanks."

"Oh." Sirius rubbed at the back of his neck and then sighed heavily. He leaned forward so that his elbows rested comfortably on the table. "Look, Remus. I can explain everything."

Remus was quiet for a moment before answering.

"I just need to know if I was...imagining that you like me or not." Remus could not help the light flush that crept uninvited onto this cheeks.

Sirius pushed back is chair and moved to the coffee pot on the counter behind him. He took two mugs from the drying rack next to the sink and filled them from the pot.

"Everything I've ever said or done to you," Sirius murmured, setting his own mug down on the table and then Remus' mug in front of him. "Has been out of complete honesty."

"Even the part where you tried to kill me?" Remus asked dryly and held the porcelain mug between his hands. It was the one that Sirius had bought for him from the little boutique in town. Remus' stomach churned uncomfortably as he was painfully reminded of the weeks that they had enjoyed together, these images juxtaposed against the days recent activates seemed cruel. He pushed the mug away and buried his face in his hands.

"No, Remus. I'm sorry. That was a...ah, lapse in judgment."

"Lapse in judgment?" Remus echoed dully, lifting his head from his hands to stare balefully at the man seated across from him. "Is that what you call it? I'm pretty sure most people would call it attempted murder."

Sirius wiped at his brow and motioned for Remus to sit still for a moment. He quickly retreated into his bedroom and then withdrew a large, nondescript gray box from the bottom of his closet. Carrying the box in front of him like a sacrificial lamb, Sirius returned to the kitchen and placed the box in the center of the table.

Remus simply raised his brows and looked from the box, then to Sirius, and eventually back to the box again. Sirius seated himself at the table once more and reached into the box. From it he pulled a tattered navy colored notebook. He regarded the notebook forlornly and then set it down in front of him. Remus' curious gaze turned from Sirius to the newly produced stack of bound paper.

"What is that?"

Sirius didn't respond, but instead withdrew a second notebook from the box. This one was olive green and missing the back cover. He placed it on top of the first one, forming the beginning of a pile.

"What the?" Remus folded his legs under him and used the extra leverage to learn further across the table to look into the depths of the box.

Notebooks. The whole thing was crammed with notebooks. Some were falling apart, with their inner pages hanging askew from the natural spine while others had front covers that were heavily defiled. Some had no front covers at all. All different colors they were too. Sirius had blue notebooks, as was as orange, yellow, black, and red ones too. There must have been one-hundred of them all stuffed into the gray box.

"There's one-hundred and forty-two all together," Sirius said quietly as he continued to pull the notebooks from the box and stack them neatly on top of one another. "I've got a whole other box in my closet. These are most of the older ones."

Sirius sighed and pulled the box closer to him. Remus rocked back onto his folded legs and was completely dumbfounded as to what these notebooks had to do with anything even remotely significant at all.

The black haired man shifted the massive numbers of notebooks in the box and withdrew one that was quite different than the others that Remus had seen so far. The one that Sirius now held looked positively new when compared to the others. It was also so much smaller—it looked like it could easily be stored in someone's pocket.

"This is the one that I want you to read," Sirius said at last and held out the notebook to Remus. "After that you can read the others if you would like to. Or not if you would prefer it that way."

Remus tentatively took the offered black notebook from Sirius and stared at its cover for a minute

"You want me to read this?"

"Yes. I...I think it will explain a lot."

Remus looked at Sirius for a moment longer before transferring his full attention to the little black notebook. He turned back the small, soft cover and began to read some of the most painful words he would ever come across. With these words would come the realization that would truly change his life forever more.

–


	34. Chapter 34

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

The very first page only had a few lines written on it. Remus subconsciously noted how Sirius' letters were clearly formed in crisp black ink. They very top line bore a date—August 14, 1977. Then followed fragments that, by themselves, did not make much sense to Remus: Oswald Quarry. Two payments to total 300,000 Galleons. First in full—Muggle. Non violent target. Limited information.

Remus frowned at the simple inscription and turned to the second page, his interest peaked. Across the table, Sirius hid his face in shame. A soft gasp escaped Remus at the details on the next several pages.

Every word was devoted to his school. Sirius' neat handwriting spanned from one edge of the page to the next. There were no breaks to indicate the formation of new paragraphs as he had no respect for indenting or margins. Stonegate Academy titled the very top space of the page and everything that followed related to the school in some way.

Among Sirius' notations were the names of the staff and all of the attending students. On the next page were all the names of the boys in Remus' year. There were many arrows connecting several of the names together with brief notations to the type of relationship each boy shared with the one on the other end of the arrow. Remus noticed that his name was at the very bottom of the page. He had no arrows branching from his name nor ending at it.

There was also a detailed schedule written with exact times. The class start and end times were carefully noted as well as the times when the escort between classes typically arrived or departed. On another page was a complete history of the school, much of which Remus was learning about for the first time.

There were dozens upon dozens of notes about the school, all of its small oddities and quirks. Head spinning, Remus kept reading until he had to turn the page once more. Elegantly detailed on a full two pages was an elaborate map of the school. Here, Sirius' handwriting became so miniscule that it became difficult for Remus to read it in places.

A clammy sense of dread had started to settle in the pit of Remus' stomach as he turned the page to find close ups of the very map he had just studied for a few particular rooms. One of the more detailed rooms was his own dormitory. All of the little beds had been drawn in, nice and straight as if Sirius had used a straight edge to complete his drawing and next to each little bed was a name.

Remus grew cold as his eyes rested on his own bed. His name had been circled twice. The carelessness of the mark contrasted with the neat penmanship that the rest of the notebook displayed.

"Who are you?" Remus whispered, a note of fear creeping into his voice. Head still hidden in his hands, Sirius did not answer.

Although he wished nothing more than to slam the notebook shut and throw it back into the box that it had come out of, Remus was drawn back to it. A tiny arrow pointed to Remus' bed. Sirius' neat handwriting proclaimed: a vent? sneaking out after curfew? clever boy.

Remus didn't know if he should feel a dark thrill in the pit of his stomach or a drowning sense of dread instead. The two emotions mixed uncomfortably and only made him want to close the notebook and forget everything he'd seen so far. His resolve, however, forced him to turn the page and keep reading.

A few more rooms were detailed extensively on the next several pages. The gym was engraved on one page, complete with its own scale. Remus stared at the little black x on the far end by the south doors for a minute before moving onward. He recognized the cafeteria on another page, complete with little round tables and six small square chairs around each table. Under this replica were the times for each meal. Over each table was a short description of the students that sat there for meals.

There existed nine more detailed diagrams in the notebook. Each of these drawings were extremely well done and often times had descriptive passages at either the extreme top or bottom of the page. Some of these descriptions were obvious to Remus while others were unintelligible in meaning.

Then followed the student records. Each student had several pages of information dedicated to them, yet it was only the bare minimum of information that Remus recognized: his classmates' names and grade levels. Sirius had collected so much information that he easily filled dozens of pages on a single student.

Remus' breath caught in his throat as he continued to flip through the handwritten pages. The very last student profile belonged to Remus. While his classmates had had dozens of pages dedicated to their lives and habits, Remus' information only occupied the last two pages.

His pages only contained the most basic of information. There was nothing on the two pages that chronicled anything beyond what was on his record at Stonegate Academy. Name, address, grade, and basic physical description. Remus could only stare at his short memoir in complete silence until the ringing in his ears subsided. His eyes focused clearly on the words one moment and then the page blurred out of focus the next.

"What is this?" Remus asked quietly. He had not looked up at Sirius once as he had fervently read the notebook. Remus slowly looked from the page in front of him to the man across the table from him. Sirius' face was still buried in his hands. His mug of coffee sat beside him, untouched.

"It's all...research. Isn't it?" Remus asked quietly, bending over the notebook intently and tracing over his own name with his finger.

"On the school. All of my classmates." Remus closed the notebook and opened it at the beginning again. Sirius sat motionless and silently in his chair. "Is that what all that time with me was? All those detentions?" Remus had once again turned to the back of the notebook to stare at the pages dedicated to him. "You didn't know enough about me so you had to get to know me better. Is that it?"

Remus felt hot tears swell in his eyes and blinked them back. Only when he was sure that his eyes were dry did he glance up at Sirius again. Sirius' gray eyes stared solemnly back at him.

"I was curious about you at first," Sirius spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. His voice was hoarse from disuse. "I wanted to get to know you. I guess it was research."

Sirius paused and pulled the coffee mug toward him so that he would have something to occupy his hands with.

"If you did all that research then where is it all? Is there another notebook somewhere?" Remus stole a glance at the battered box, imagining all of the research that Sirius had done on him and a whole notebook dedicated to him. Again he was unsure if the thought pleased or frightened him.

Sirius shook his head and stood up. Remus watched as his former teacher picked his mug up and poured the cold coffee down the sink. He reached for Remus' mug as well but the werewolf shook his head and Sirius retreated back to his chair.

"I know more about you than I do about any of those other boys."

"I hope you would learn more from an actual person than you would from some impersonal source."

"What I know about you could easily fill a dozen of these notebooks," Sirius admitted, nodding to the open notebook in front of Remus. "But I haven't written any of it down."

During Sirius' monologue, Remus had been alternating between looking down at the notebook and then back up to Sirius' face. As Sirius spoke this last confession, Remus had once again been staring down at the page that bore his name in ink. After Sirius had finished and had remained silent for a moment, Remus looked up at him again.

"Why not? Your research isn't done then, right?"

"I think you might want to look at some of these too," Sirius said after a full minute of silence. "This is...really hard for me to explain. I don't think I've ever told anybody about this before."

"What's so hard to explain?" Remus asked as Sirius tried to hand him another notebook. Remus shook his head and swatted it away. "No. I don't want to see any more. I want to now about this one." Remus flipped backward through the pages, from his name to the first student Sirius had taken notes on.

"They're all in my year," Remus proclaimed suddenly. He slammed the notebook shut and held it up so that it was at Sirius' eye level. "Tell me what this is. Now."

Sirius sighed and leaned over the box once more. He shifted around in it for a moment until he located the notebook that he had been searching for. From it's appearance, Remus judged it to be very old. The front cover was still attached, but only just so. At one time the cover looked to have been red, but most of the color had faded with age. There were splotches of ink and other assorted stains on the cover.

Sirius fanned through the pages and Remus could see where they had yellowed throughout the years and that the corners had begun to curl.

"Harvey Milbrook. He had a wife and two children," Sirius began tonelessly, glancing at the notebook and then tossing it across the table to Remus. Remus simply stared down at it where it rested on the table. Some new, unknown sense of dread had settled around him like a suffocating blanket at the sound of Sirius' voice. Remus had unknowingly tensed and held his breath, subconsciously convinced that if he twitched even slightly something terrible would happen.

"His youngest child was named Gracie. She was seven. Attended High St. Peter's school. The child was want for nothing. Milbrook's eldest son," here Sirius leaned far across the table and flipped a few pages in the tattered notebook. An unsmiling, hand drawn portrait stared sullenly back at Remus. Sirius' penmanship was astounding. The boy's portrait was so detailed and realistic that, if he hadn't known better, Remus would have mistaken it for a black and white photograph. "Lawrence Milbrook was an outcast in his family."

Sirius shook his head and leaned back in his chair. Remus looked up slowly from the incredibly life like drawing.

"He had been a role model student all the way up until recently in his life. Always obeyed his parents, straight A student. Great kid from what I gathered. He was involved in scouts, did volunteer work, and went to church every week with his family. He sang tenor in the choir and was suppose to start his responsibilities as an altar boy soon."

Although Sirius' voice had remained calm and steady, Remus could see that his hands were shaking slightly from their place upon the table.

"Sirius," Remus asked quietly, causing the other man to startle. It was the first time Remus had addressed him with his first name since the attempted murder incident. "Are you alright?"

" No. Not really. I've never really talked about any of this before."

Remus sat in silence, thinking to himself.

_I've never seen him so shaken before. He's scared._

Remus tried to fight as his heart softened toward the other man and, making up his mind, pushed his chair back and stood up. He didn't utter a single word as he approached the counter and threw out the old coffee grinds and filter. Remus opened the cabinet above the sink and pulled out the tight sealed, rich smelling coffee and new filters.

He started the fresh pot of coffee and turned so that his lower back rested against the counter top. Remus sighed and braced his palms against the edge of the counter behind him. He stared at the back of Sirius' head, his thoughts tangled with one another and entwined together.

_Who _are_ you, Sirius? What have you_ done_?_

Remus waited patiently as the coffee brewed. The minutes passed by slowly, but Remus was too absorbed with his inner most thoughts to notice the passage of such a mundane thing as time. Remus glanced over his shoulder; the coffee pot was full of dark coffee and its rich aroma filled the kitchen. Remus took a clean mug from the wooden rack on the wall and filled it to the brim with fresh coffee. He set the mug down gingerly in front of Sirius but remained standing behind the older man.

"It's still a bit hot," Remus said awkwardly, the only thing he could think to say to break the thick silence. Remus sighed as Sirius remained silent and stared at his notebook. Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck from behind and rested his cheek on Sirius' shoulder.

"Lawrence fell in with a bad crowd...he had a falling out with his father shortly after. Bit of a fall from grace. Practically disowned by his father. The man wouldn't even talk to his only son."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Remus whispered, his hot breath brushing the skin of Sirius' neck.

"This was my first kill," Sirius said simply, without any sense of climax. It was the first time since he had begun his mantra that he had responded directly to Remus rather than distantly narrate to himself.

"First...what?" Remus asked, his breathing hitching once more.

"I was seventeen at the time, I had no real job so to speak of. No inheritance left. So I thought I was being witty." Sirius paused for a long moment, finally talking a drink from the hot mug. "I placed an advertisement in the _Prophet_. Strong, able man looking for work. Will do any job for the right price, I don't remember the exact wording...but it was something along those lines.

"I worked that way for a while. I must have done thirty different odd jobs. Some company wanted me to watch their shop at night. Security, I guess you'd call it. Some landscape work. I was even a dog walker for a little bit.

"Everything was going pretty well. By that time I'd just moved into my first flat. Nothing real special, mind you. My kitchen was three feet of counter space and a microwave that had to be set on the ground because the cord was too short to reach the counter. No bedrooms, just a living space. You know, one of those kinds of places."

Sirius sighed and reached a hand up to curl around Remus' arm.

"Then I got an anonymous letter. No return address, no signature. Hell," Sirius laughed bitterly and took another sip of his black coffee. "_My_ address wasn't even on the damn thing. It was just sitting outside my door one morning. It was short too. And it was very vague. Are you the man who will do any job? Leave answer in same envelope and leave in same place you found this note.

"It was thrilling and it was exciting. I remember scrawling my answer and putting the envelope outside in the hall in front of my door. Then I tried staying up all night, listening for any sound of the person who had left me such a cryptic message."

Remus felt a small, sad smile curl his lips. He imagined seventeen year old Sirius, an anxious Sirius, a more naive Sirius, if such a thing had ever truly existed. The Sirius in his mind sat in his small one bathroom, no bedroom apartment on the mattress on the floor. He could almost see the posters and unframed pictures that must have covered the thin plaster walls.

"I didn't quite make it," Sirius admitted, a little embarrassed. "I woke up in the morning and found a new envelope outside my door, exactly where the first one had been. This one was simply an address."

Sirius shook his head and finished what was left of his coffee, it was now lukewarm. He held the empty mug between his hands and stared at the bottom. Remus plucked the mug from Sirius' hands gently and filled it again.

"You know," Sirius said pensively as Remus placed the mug back in his hands. "I didn't always like coffee. Couldn't afford it."

Remus tried to imagine his former teacher without coffee and had a hard time doing so.

"That address happened to belong to a four star restaurant. Shame. They closed down just last year. I only ate there once," Sirius mussed quietly before shaking his head slightly. "To say that I was stunned would be an understatement. I hadn't exactly dressed for such a place. I was so close to turning around and walking back out the door when the host waved me over."

_Sirius flushed as the host asked him his name as he approached apprehensively. The man narrowed his eyes as Sirius stammered out an apology and turned to the back of his leather bound reservation book._

"_Right then," the host said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one slender finger. "You must be the unnamed young man who lives on Thorton street, I presume."_

"_Uh, yeah. I live on Thorton street—"_

"_Please follow me. Your benefactor has been waiting for quite some time now. Best not keep him waiting any longer." The uniformed host cut Sirius off curtly and led him properly into the body of the restaurant. Sirius ignored the stares of the other patrons in contempt for his out of place attire._

_The host led Sirius past all of them, antagonizing glares and all. For one horrible moment, Sirius had a nightmarish thought that the man would lead him to the very back of the restaurant and show him to the exit door. Instead, Sirius was led through another doorway into a private room in the back._

_The isolated room was tastefully decorated, with an ornate rock garden in the center, large live plants all along the wall, and a miniature waterfall and pond in one corner. Colorful fish swam in the gently churning, clear water._

_There was only one man in the room and he was seated at the largest table in the entire room. Sirius felt a twinge of comfort when he noticed that this man was dressed similarly to himself: casual and completely inappropriate for the fine dinning restaurant. The round booth that he was seated in looked like it could seat twelve comfortably, perhaps even more. Spread out on the table was a full course meal set to feed at least as many people that could have sat comfortably around the table._

_The host led Sirius over to the table and bowed his head to the solitary man. _

"_Your guest has arrived, Mr. Potter. Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?"_

_The man looked up from the platter in front of him for the first time. Sirius felt the rest of his insecurities and tension melt away._

Damn, he can't be much older than I am, _Sirius thought as the man smiled at both him and his finely __dressed escort._

"_A fine bottle of wine please, Victor."_

"_Very well, sir," Victor the host said, repeating his respectful bow to the man and exiting the room without another glance at Sirius._

_The mysterious man regarded Sirius for a moment as he took another bite from his meal and chewed purposefully. Sirius had begun to feel uncomfortable again when then man addressed him at last._

"_Don't just stand there. Come, sit, sit." The man patted the cushion beside him and Sirius slid into the booth._

"_My name is James," the man said as he handed Sirius an empty plate. "You may help yourself to anything on the table. If there's something special you fancy, you can just tell Victor." James nodded as the host reentered the private room with a chilled bottle of wine. Victor placed the bottle on the table near James' hand and bowed again. He then transferred his cold gaze unto Sirius, coolly awaiting further instructions._

"_Ah, no. Everything here looks fantastic, I couldn't think of anything to add. Thanks, though."_

_Victor nodded curtly and left. Sirius dully noted that he did not get a bow like his companion had. James waved a vague hand at the host's retreating back._

"_Old and stuck in his ways," James snorted, pulling a hot plate of lobster toward him and placing some on his own plate. "Don't even so much as _look_ you in the eye unless you've got money. You ah," James pulled the small crystal platter with the butter on it closer to him. "look a lot younger than I thought you'd be."_

"_So do you," Sirius shrugged and piled some potatoes onto his plate. James watched as he began to eat ravenously._

"_Don't eat much, do you?"_

_Sirius shoveled another fork full into his mouth and began to cut himself a large piece of steak from another plate._

"_I do alright for myself. I don't starve." Sirius cut a piece of the tender meat and devoured it. "But it's not every day someone shoves _this_ kind of food in my face and tells me to eat whatever I want."_

"_How old do you think I am?" James asked curiously, his plate untouched beside him and all of his attention focused on Sirius. Sirius thought for a minute as he chewed his food._

"_Sixteen."_

"Sixteen_?" James repeated, learning back in his booth with a faint smile._

"_How old do you think I am?" Sirius asked, moving onto a new dish._

"_Eighteen," James said without a moments hesitation._

"_You flatter me."_

"_I wish I could say the same."_

"_How old are you really?"_

"_Twenty-one."_

_Sirius paused in his eating frenzy for the first time and regarded James closely._

"_I guess I can see it, yeah."_

"_How old are you?"_

"_Seventeen," Sirius said absently and started to raise his arm to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand when he suddenly thought better of it. He quickly ran his hand through his hair to cover up his mistake and cleared his throat. "Ah, do you have any napkins?"_

"_Oh, yeah, sure." James half turned in his seat and grabbed the white cloth napkin from the other side of his plate. He handed it to Sirius and watched as the young man used it quickly and then started eating again. James watched in silence and contemplated if the man eating in his private room was adequately suited for the job that he needed done._

Any job for the right price.

"_Is it true what your ad says?" James asked quietly, swirling the ice in his glass gently._

"_Hm?" Sirius looked up, finally full and pushing his plate away. He smiled slyly. "Any job for the right price."_

"_I see. You don't mind if I made an inquire into your credentials do you Mr...?"_

_Sirius was taken aback that he had neglected to introduce himself to his gracious benefactor._

"_Sorry, it slipped my mind completely. My name's Sirius. Sirius Black."_

_It was James' turn to be startled. He blinked rapidly a few times and then rested his elbows on the table and cocked his head at Sirius._

"_Black? Toujours Pur?"_

_Sirius smiled bitterly back at James._

"_Yes."_

"_But you're..." James trailed off, looking intently at Sirius' very ordinary sense of dress._

"_Disowned."_

"_Interesting," James nearly purred, leaning back comfortably in the booth with a satisfied smile stretching his lips._

_Sirius snorted and waved away his complicated relationship with his family with an unconcerned hand._

"_What I find far more interesting is what job you contacted me for? And in such an unusually way might I add."_

"_Tell me, Mr. Black—"_

"_Sirius, please."_

"_What do you know of murder, Sirius?" James asked quietly. Sirius hesitated, unsure of the answer James was expecting._

"_Is this some kind of trick question?"_

"_I'd say that this is a lot of trouble to go through just to ask you some trivial question."_

"_You're serious?"_

"_My profession is a bit of an extreme oddity. You see, Sirius," James slid a little closer to the younger man and his voice dripped with unbridled passion. "People find me when they want somebody dead."_

"_You...kill people?"_

"_No, no. I _employ_ people to do all the dirty work. I'm a glorified middle man, if you will. I'm the man behind the curtain, pulling all of the pretty little levers."_

_Sirius sat in a horrified kind of trance, staring at James with his mouth slightly agape. The truly horrifying part, he wouldn't come to realize until much later that night as he lie in his one room apartment, thinking—longing—for the life of luxury that James promised him, was that he wasn't disgusted by this human act of depravity but rather that the idea excited him._

_Sirius' pink tongue darted out to moisten his lips nervously._

"_Why did you contact me? I mean, don't you have...professionals to do that kind of work?"_

_James sighed and sadly shook his head._

"_Where do you think the _professionals _come from? Everyone has to start somewhere. At the moment I'm an operator without a machine. A...driver without a car, if you prefer."_

"_So what you mean is that you don't have anyone to murder people for you?"_

"_Such a harsh word," James tutted and took a sip from his glass of water. "But you do catch on rather quickly—"_

"_Why haven't you got anyone to work for you?" Sirius asked apprehensively._

"_Well you see, it's really my first day on the job."_

_A lesser man would have proclaimed so sheepishly, but James Potter was a man above such means and did so confidently. Sirius didn't respond but instead eyed the other man skeptically._

"_Don't give me that look. I'm not an amateur or anything, quite the opposite actually. I've inherited this little business from my late father."_

"_I'm sorry," Sirius spoke quickly out of the habit of condolences. James waved away his expressed sympathies casually._

"_My father's old...ah, _business _partners were never exactly loyal to me. Like they were to him. After he was in the ground they all just kind of split."_

"_So you're looking for new employees."_

"_My, you do catch on fast, don't you?" _

"_I like to think so, yes," Sirius bristled embarrassingly._

"_So what do you say?" James asked, undeterred._

"_To being a murderer?"_

"_I thought you'd do anything. For the right price." James shrugged. "As with all of the jobs that you complete for me you'll receive half of your payment up front and the other half upon completion. The pay scale is determined by the complexity, time, and research commitment of any particular job."_

_In that moment, time passed slowly for Sirius. The conversation he was having with the rich man in the ordinary clothes sitting next to him seemed so surreal. Surely this was some weightless dream sequence as no such conversation happened in cold reality. Surely?_

_Sirius searched carefully for his next words._

"_The way you're talking," Sirius said slowly, "it's as if I've already accepted your proposition."_

_A bright and earnest smile blossomed on James' face._

"_Well, you already have, haven't you?" He chuckled heartily and shook his head. "Any job? Right price? Sound familiar?"_

"_Yeah, well..." Sirius trailed off, fidgeting nervously._

"_Here. This might help you make up your mind." James rummaged in his interior jacket pocket and pulled out a photograph. He slid it over to Sirius without any further communication. Frowning, Sirius picked up the picture and felt that flutter of horrified excitement once more. _

_Shown in the glossy photograph was a gleaming, black motorcycle. The chrome was polished to a high shine and the seat was covered in crisp, black leather. Sirius couldn't help the gasp that escaped him._

"_Impressive, isn't it? It's out in the back alley right now." Sirius reluctantly looked up from the photograph. Although he had already made up his mind, the motorcycle in the picture only strengthened his resolve and gave the deal a sweet taste with which he could use to help face bitter reality. "It's not that I don't trust you, per say...except that I really don't."_

"_This model isn't even supposed to be released until next year."_

"_It's completely unique, yes,"James reassured him with a shrug and gently pulled the photo away from him and stuffed it back in his pocket. "This would be your first half of the two part payment. You understand that I cannot give you cash until I know that I can trust you...it'd only be too easy for you to just take the money and run."_

_A chill crept down Sirius' spine and he outwardly shivered. The movement seemed to cause James a great deal of satisfaction because he grinned widely and clapped the other man heartily on the back._

"_Not to worry. I'm sure everything will turn out just fine and we'll be the best of friends."_

_Sirius nodded back absently, his doubt and blunt fear of the man next to him well hidden once again. His mind drifted back to the promised motorcycle sitting behind the very restaurant he was now seated in._

"_Is there gas in the tank?" Sirius asked slowly. _

"_Full tank. It's all yours and it's all ready to go." James fished around in this pocket for a moment and then pulled out a key ring that was strangely empty. There was only one key attached to the ring. He handed it to Sirius and used his free hand to grasp the still cold bottle of celebratory wine._

"_A toast," James proposed happily as Sirius sat numbly beside him, clutching at the key and feeling as though he had sighed a pact with the devil. In blood. Irreversible. James poured the dark, red wine into two stem glasses and handed one to Sirius. _

"_To a long, _beautiful_, and successful partnership."_

_Irreversible._

–


	35. Chapter 35

Rating of R.

I do not own the characters, JKR does. I simply borrow them.

As a hired hit man, Sirius Black's newest target is a potential danger to the motives of the Death Eaters. The only information that is available to him is an age, gender, location, and the condition of werewolf. Werewolf narrows it down a fair bit, yet that's not going to help him when the location just happens to be an all werewolf school.

Major Alternate Universe alert and mild slash.

Coffee Stains

–

"So this Milbrook chap...you killed him?" Remus asked quietly in disbelief. He had stood quietly behind Sirius while the other man talked steadily to the bottom of his coffee mug once more. It was empty again, but neither of them moved to fill it. Shaken, Remus felt as if all his strength had gradually receded from his being as Sirius continued to talk emptily about his endeavor with the Milbrook family.

Sirius laughed bitterly, a soulless sound that contained no hint of mirth or humor. The hair on the back of Remus' neck stood on end and he gripped painfully at the back of Sirius' chair for support.

"My first job, my first _kill_ and the whole thing was going so...so _smoothly_. I trailed Milbrook and his family for two weeks. I learned more about the whole damn family in two weeks that they would ever know about each other."

Sirius shook his head sadly. As he next spoke, he raised the fingers on his right hand to count the secrets of the Milbrook family.

"Unbeknownst to his wife, Harvey Milbrook kept a healthy sized second bank account separate from the joint account that he shared with her. He also had a fully functional fake identity at the ready." Sirius shrugged. "As far as I know he never had the chance to use it. Tina Milbrook had been in a steamy relationship with her boss for about three years by the time I entered the picture.

"Poor little Gracie Milbrook, ignored by both of her parents, she found solace in her uncle's open arms. He was a soulless coward who sexually abused a little girl that had no where else to turn. Lawrence Milbrook became involved with some shady people. It was all typical teenage stuff, really. Drugs and sex mostly. These were all petty things that made his parents go over the edge. His parents never had the chance to find out the really bad stuff. Kid got in deep with a local cult.

Sirius glanced at his open palmed hand in disgust and then closed his fingers in a tight fist.

"I guess those are the important ones. The big ones. I don't remember all of the fine details. Probably in my notebook somewhere."

_You're a liar. You know everything about that man and his family. You've memorized everything you've ever written down in that damn notebook that you ever learned about the Milbrook family._

"Sirius." Remus' voice was so soft that it was inaudible. "What did you _do_ to them?"

"You weren't the first person that I tried unsuccessfully to kill. I tried the killing curse on Harvey Milbrook too."

Remus' mouth suddenly went dry and once again he found himself longing for the comfort of his bloody shard of glass. At least he would have something to protect him from the murderer across from him.

"Why didn't it work? I don't understand."

"You have to be so full of _hate_," Sirius sighed heavily, banging his fist on the table in a show of passionate emotion. "You have to really _want_ it, with everything you've got. You have to want someone dead."

"So you couldn't kill me," Remus began slowly, his heart beating a painfully fast tempo in his chest. "because you—"

"I love you, Remus, and I sure as hell didn't want you dead," Sirius snapped, his voice raised in a half yell.

Remus leaned over the table, an angry expression on his contorted face, but his mouth formed around an aborted word. He was speechless and rested back comfortably in the hard backed chair out of defeated contempt. He tried once more to summon the stubborn words, but they failed him and left him surrounded by silence once more.

"I love you too, Sirius," Remus whispered back, inaudibly. His fingers curled in the linen tablecloth and thin valleys and deep ridges formed where the linen became distorted.

"Harvey Milbrook's last day on earth was on November twenty-second. It was perfect. It couldn't have been more perfect if I had personally planned every aspect of that day myself.

"Harvey had taken to the comfort of cheap whiskey. There hadn't been a day in the past week that the man had been coherently sober. He and his wife had taken to fighting quite a bit.

"I was getting stressed about then," Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know, this isn't easy for me."

Remus blinked rapidly and shook his head, he had become so engrossed in Sirius' tale that he had to physically detach himself from Sirius' haunted voice.

"Come over here." Sirius extended a hand toward Remus. His voice had already grown hoarse from the long, one sided conversation. Remus didn't have time to think as he pushed his chair back and stood up. He crossed over to Sirius, operating on a strong sense of trusting instinct.

_Trusting him could get me killed_, Remus thought, unconcerned as he placed his hand in Sirius' own. Remus' eyes never left the other man's as he stood up and silently led Remus into the living room. The strong smell of recently brewed coffee had settled in the connected room as well and washed over Remus in a emotional wave of nostalgia.

Sirius rubbed his thumb in small, soothing circles over the back of Remus' hand. He used his free hand to unsheathe an old vinyl record, set it on the track of the record player, and dropped the needle. Remus was taken aback by the soft, smooth opening notes of the record. It was music that someone like his father, or at least someone his father's age, would be partial to. The instrumental opening was soothing like silk against bare skin.

"You like jazz music?" Remus whispered as Sirius returned fully to him. Although it should have shocked him, Remus wasn't at all surprised when Sirius wrapped a protective arm around his waist. "I...I don't know how to dance," Remus mumbled as their feet began to move.

"My parents never had music in the house while I was growing up. It wasn't until I was out on my own that I was properly introduced to it," Sirius laughed hollowly and slowly guided Remus around the living room.

Remus thought how odd this slow moving dance clashed with the percussion instruments issuing from the spinning record.

"This old lady lived on my floor. She was always very fond of me...used to invite me over for dinner every Tuesday. This," Sirius said, absently jerking his head in the direction of the record player behind him. "Was the type of music she always played. Softly. So softly."

"Sirius—"

"Sorry. I just needed a distraction. Chance to gather my thoughts," Sirius said as Remus rested his head on his own broad shoulder. "Remus," Sirius sighed, stopping mid step and resting their foreheads together.

"I'm a distraction?"

"Only because you consume me completely and entirely."

Remus hid his satisfied smile against Sirius' shoulder and nuzzled his neck affectionately. The jazz music drifted gently in the background as Sirius led the young werewolf over to the armchair in the corner. Sirius seated himself and tugged at Remus' slim fingered hand. Remus sat on the arm of the chair and regarded Sirius with a deep, somber gaze. He had a hard time connecting the man before him as the same person that had tried to kill him that morning.

As if remembering some piece of some long forgotten knowledge, Remus startled and glanced out of the large picture window across the room. The dark, starless sky beyond the windowpane was just starting to lighten as the sun began to breach the horizon.

"All night. We stayed up all night?" Remus murmured in slight wonder, a mere pondering dedicated to himself rather than meant for Sirius' ears. Sirius sat in silence, gathering his thoughts and making elaborate patterns on Remus' back with the tips of his fingers absently.

"I was getting worried. Here I had a family that I had been following for two whole weeks. All of my...research..." Sirius' eyes flickered nervously up to Remus, but the younger boy's eyes were firmly fixed on the rising sun beyond the large picture window. "Had been completed. I was so restless. Waiting. Just waiting for the opportune moment. I never thought that Tina Milbrook would hand me such a moment on a finely polished silver platter."

Sirius grew quiet again and his eyes shifted to watch the sun light up the morning sky. The darkness had been banished and replaced by light shades of orange and pink. It was stunning. Sirius tried to remember the last time he had witnessed such a a beautiful sunrise and was unable to do so.

The faint aroma of coffee lingered around the room. Sirius couldn't help reflect that, had he been a normal man living a normal life on just another normal day, he and Remus could have just rolled out of bed to enjoy a cup of coffee and a gorgeous sunrise together.

In the background, the record player had fallen silent, its soulful jazz tracks now finished. The record spun on in silence, the needle skipping over the small rifts on the record quietly. Normally such a quiet noise, it had become intensely magnified by the comfortable silence.

"I think I've said enough," Sirius muttered, starting to stir from his seat with a fresh pot of coffee on his mind. It had been one long, stressful night. He stopped when Remus gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I want to hear the rest." As Remus spoke his eyes moved from the morning sky outside to Sirius' haunted face.

"You've come this far and," Remus paused and drew in a long, slow breath. "I remember one time...a long time ago...when you stayed up all night to listen to another person's problems."

The first real, genuine smile that Remus had seen on Sirius all day, and into this new, glorious one, slowly molded his lips upward. Sirius squeezed the werewolf's hand for encouragement and, for the first time since he had begun explaining, did not break eye contact from Remus' dark eyes.

"Tina Milbrook was taking the two children and leaving for her mother's place. She made it exceptionally clear that she did not intend to return. With her and the kids out of the way, my path to Harvey was finally unobstructed.

"I thought a lot...on how to kill him," Sirius admitted, his eyes shying away briefly in shame. "At first it was hard, planning to kill a man that had never done wrong by me. But during all that time...watching and waiting...it become easier." Beside him, Sirius' fingers had curled into a fist.

"After watching what this neglectful man let happen to his family...his children—God. That poor little girl."

Sirius' voice had flared up with passion once more. Beside him, Remus had started to gently stroke Sirius' back in an attempt to comfort him. Slowly, the muscles in Sirius' shoulders and neck began to relax. His clenched fist uncurled and traveled up to rest on Remus' thigh. The small gesture seemed to spur him on and when he continued to speak, Sirius' voice was steadier and much stronger.

"I made out my plan. I watched Tina storm out of the house, children and luggage in tow. As soon as they were gone I make my move."

Sirius inhaled sharply and finally had to break his eye contact with Remus. A concerned frown contorted Remus' face and he moved his hand from Sirius' back to grip his hand in assurance instead.

"I'm ready Sirius. You need to keep going," Remus murmured. As Sirius spoke, Remus had come to an understanding that he was helping to rid this man that he cared for of some of his violent inner demons.

Sirius paused for a moment, the only sound breaking the silence was the soft, rhythmic tic of the record player. When he began talking again, he could not bring himself to meet Remus' eyes.

"It was so easy. The night before the family left, I crept into the garage. Drugged his liquor. Just to knock him out of a bit, right? I'd never used the stuff before, how was I supposed to know how much to give him? I wanted him out cold for a few hours, what I got was hardly one.

"He was tied to a chair, I already had all the shades down—thankfully—and a few strong silencing charms on the house."

Sirius ran a hand over his tired face. The early morning light on his face made him look much older than he actually was.

"Harvey Milbrook woke up screaming. I just stared at him. So cold. Emotionless. I let him scream himself hoarse, letting all the hate build up inside me as I glanced around the living room. There were so many pictures on the walls. All of a broken family.

"I...tried killing him. Just like I did you," Sirius said quietly, leveling his weary gaze up at Remus. He waited patiently for the younger boy to launch into an angry and hurt tirade, but Remus merely flinched briefly before his face revered back to the facade that betrayed the anxiety that he felt.

"Did it work?" Remus asked numbly, fingers twirling in his hair above the temple. He could still feel the dried blood matting his hair.

Sirius shook his head bleakly.

"Same as you. Nothing. I...I panicked," Sirius answered quickly. Alarmed, Remus watched as Sirius' eyes began to dart around the room. It was almost as if he were searching for an escape.

"I grabbed the first thing my eyes landed on." Sirius' voice was no more than a whisper. Next to him, Remus sat rapt, unable to move or respond. "Some statue off the end table. I...there was so much blood."

Once again, Sirius covered his face with his free hand in shame. Remus had forgotten how to breath.

"I just kept hitting him. He must have been dead for...I don't know. Half hour? I just...kept...I just zoned out, in a complete panic. There was this screaming. At first I thought it was me. I thought that I had gone insane.

"That little girl. That sweet, sweet, _poor_ little girl. I don't know how long she had been there. I don't know when the family came home. Looking back on it now, with a clearer mind, I still can't be certain of anything."

Sirius stopped again and this time Remus thought he heard the beginning of a sob coming from the other man.

"Sirius."

"They were all there. The three of them."

"Sirius."

"Just standing there. Screaming. Frozen with terror."

"Sirius."

"God. How I must have looked. Dead man. Blood everywhere."

"Sirius."

Both of their voices had been steadily rising. Sirius' in hateful conviction and Remus' in unveiled terror. Remus was screaming before Sirius finally stopped talking and slowly turned his gaze unto the young werewolf's horrified face.

"I killed them. All of them. Those innocent children. That confused and blameless women," Sirius whispered in a defeated voice.

"I...I think I'm going to pass out," Remus stammered. He heaved dryly into his palms and slid from his perch from atop the arm of the chair unto the floor with a graceless thud.

"Remus. Hey Remus?"

From his position half sprawled out on the floor, Remus looked up into Sirius' pale face with glassy eyes.

"You. You're a murderer?"

"I'm an assassin, Remus. A hired man," Sirius said simply, with a mild apologetic undertone in his voice. He sat down on the floor beside Remus and cradled the younger boy's head in his lap. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I...I...kill me? Someone wanted me...dead? You were there to kill...me?" Remus' voice trailed off weakly and his eyes rolled back in their sockets.

The realization, although in the back of Remus' subconscious mind since Sirius had began his tale, seemed much harsher and colder now that he could no longer deny it. There was no way that Remus could ignore what was clearly painted in black and white before him.

"Remus?" Sirius prodded the werewolf uncertainly. When Remus didn't respond he felt the first of many hot tears trail down the side of his face. He tried to hold it together a little longer until he couldn't any longer and cried over Remus' prone body.

"I'm sorry."

Salty tears dripped from Sirius' chin and jaw bone to patter lightly on Remus' upturned and unaware face.

"So sorry."

Sirius kissed each of Remus' closed eyelids and then his forehead softly.

"Remus."

–


End file.
